Instagram is now starting to hide likes, and of course, it will affect both influencers and brands, plus the relation between them as well. Obviously, a new question arises: How will Instagram hiding likes affect Influencer Marketing?
If you are curious about the answer, I invite you to read the rest of the article.

We’re currently running a test that hides the total number of likes and video views for some people in the following countries:

✅ Australia
✅ Brazil
✅ Canada
✅ Ireland
✅ Italy
✅ Japan
✅ New Zealand pic.twitter.com/2OdzpIUBka

— Instagram (@instagram) July 17, 2019

With the above tweet, Instagram announced that likes would be hiding for select users. Instagram had already been testing hiding likes in Australia, Brazil, Canada, and some US users and, after the month-long test, the amount of likes will be hiding to the rest of the world. Users can still like by pressing the heart below a post, but a total number of likes will not appear.

 

So when an account likes influencers’ content, it will seem like that  “name of Instagram account and others”.  Users can see only a list of accounts that have liked the post. Like counts will be hidden, won’t be completely gone. While followers won’t be able to see the number of likes, influencers will within their private view.

 

Why Does Instagram Hide The Likes?

The idea here was to help “improve mental health,” Instagram’s CEO Adam Mosseri stated.

 

Mia Garlick, Facebook Australia, and New Zealand director of policy said that “We hope this test will remove the pressure of how many likes a post will receive, so you can focus on sharing the things you love. According to her, the goal is that users feel less judged and to see whether this change can help people focus less on likes and more on telling their stories.

 

Instagram has started this process to push users to concentrate on creating better content rather than worrying about whether the content they share generates numerous likes. 

 

Studies show that this kind of instant feedback on content can boost people’s self-esteem but bring others down if they do not get as many likes, especially for young people.

 

How Will Instagram Hiding Likes Affect The Market Place?

We should take this topic into consideration from  two different aspects. What are the consequences of this change for influencers and brands? Lets firstly look at the influencers who are the ones could be most heavily impacted.

 

My approach is not psychological, but like is important for the influencers. Actually, like is a kind of validation of their works. Like has always been seen as a measure of performance and they have quiet powerful impacts. 

 

If users see content with a huge amount of likes, it grabs the audience’s attention and attracts more followers. If the influencer has fake followers or an unnatural audience, this change would definitely harm not only the influencer but also the brand who has collaboration. It means that organic growth will be gathering more attention.

 

As you see for the influencers it has some disadvantages, but the other side of the coin is that it would be beneficial for brands in particular. Naturally, brands collaborate with influencers who have an adequate engagement rate. As I said, likes have been seen as a way to measure engagement. Of course, it is not the correct way to measure engagement only through likes. The hiding of likes will help a brand understand if the influencer has a loyal and trustworthy audience or not. The engagement rate will play a huge role here. 

 

Some brands still prioritize likes and superficial metrics over the qualitative content and relationships with their audience. Brands should examine the value exchange they are offering consumers. The more balanced this exchange, the more beneficial Instagram will be for driving true business value for brands.

 

How To Handle With Hiding Likes

Certainly, there is no change without complications. If brands have the right technology or tool, hidden likes are not a problem.

That’s where Keepface stepped in. Keepface’s tool will still have access to those metrics even if they’re hidden. With the help of the Keepface brands are able to know an influencer’s engagement rates and have a full report on performance metrics before working with them. Brand can search influencers through advanced filters and analyze their key metrics to find the best fitting influencers for their campaign goals. Brands also get an in-depth analysis of influencers’ social profiles, Instagram as well, performance data, and audience.