In the world of social media, Instagram is one of the most popular apps where people can connect with each other, share photos and videos, and also gain name and fame by creating quality content. Instagram is the 4th most used mobile app and about 1 billion people use Instagram who spends on an average 30 minutes on the social media platform. Instagram is one of the platforms which is being used for the promotion of small-scale businesses and start-ups. As per research, 50 percent of the users who have seen a product in their stories or feed visited the website to make a purchase.
There is an unseen race and everyone wants to buy Instagram followers and maximum following. There are a lot of influencers and small business accounts on Instagram whose reach is affected by the algorithm of Instagram. This algorithm also affects the number of likes one gets on his/her post.
It is evident today that social media users often fall prey to their own narcissism, which could lead to serious mental health issues and depression, particularly in the youth. An entire generation of young people have supplanted the roles of family, friends, and acquaintances, with synthetic emotions like heart reacts and double taps on their Instagram posts.
1. The Importance of the Likes Count
The Likes Count simply refers to the total number of likes a post has managed to get. It is a constant source of worry for Instagram influencers who have partnered with brands or companies that they accumulate more likes than their immediate competitors. This leads to an almost feverish intensity to increase those likes, be it through advertising, or partnering up with other agencies to boost their growth. The youth seem to have internalised that the likes count directly corresponds to their affirmation, leading them to believe that the higher likes they get, the more loved they are. However, this is far from the truth.
2. Why the Likes Count can be Dangerous
When the immediate replacement for love and validation in reality is the number of Instagram followers a selfie can manage to gather, it becomes a major cause of worry indeed. People have become hooked to social media, and it’s true that this addiction acts like any other substance addiction – wherein the user gets flooded with dopamine the instant they check in to see that their post has 200 likes. On the flipside, a picture that does not manage to do too well is bound to stay at the back of one’s mind, letting forth a ceaseless spew of self-hatred and negative emotions having to do with one’s self esteem. The problem lies in them being so closely attached to their social media personas, which gradually creates a link between the Instagram followers and one’s one value in the eyes of others. This leads to depression, and often, we come across celebrities and famous personalities opting to take a break from social media for the same reason.
3. How Instagram Plans on Tackling this Issue
Instagram has noted how the likes count seems to be splitting its users into two factions, with one side claiming that they need it to analyse their brand growth, and the other roping in mental health issues to criticise it. Over the past couple of years, Instagram has tried to introduce test features that blocks the likes count for several users, periodically inviting flak as well as praise from either faction.
While they’re still in the process of finalising the feature for all users, it remains to be seen how long they’re willing to ignore the very pressing matter of toxic validation in youth culture before they finally do away with the likes count. This toxic dependency on Instagram followers is a major, not to mention under-acknowledged issue that challenges the self-worth of many users in a way which can only be described as debilitating and sadistic. Till then, the only thing left to dois put on our happy faces, post our pictures, and spread endless love and positivity, in whichever ways we can, whenever we can!
You can increase your reach by an amalgamation of mind blowing content and right strategies which are in accordance with the algorithm of Instagram. Perfect content with the right target audience will surely help in gaining goodwill among the users.
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