Hello beauties
Today I wanted to share with you
my thoughts on Instagram's recent announcement. Over the last few months,
Instagram has undergone a number of changes, including hiding like counts on
photos and view counts on videos from other followers. The ongoing trial which
is being conducted in six countries around the world, comes after concerns
about the link between social media pressures and mental well-being. But is it
time we scrapped the heart icon altogether?
As young people, our validation is
measured by exam results, the label in our jeans and above all the number of
likes on Instagram. Gone are the days when we could snap a selfie just for the
sake of sharing. Now, if it isn't ceremoniously Facetuned and fails to hit
those all-important double figures, we are deemed ugly, shunned and unworthy of
attention.
Personally I think more privacy
from followers would reduce the stifling, FOMO fuelled competition. However the
issue remains that Instagram is warping our self-esteem. And if users can still
access their own metrics, then what is the point?
Ever since Instagram launched, the
word like has lost all meaning. It used to be a sign of appreciation and
sincerity but now it merely signifies an absent-minded click of a button,
sparking a fluctuation between dopamine and self-doubt.
For brands and businesses, likes
are an important source of market research. Therefore perhaps the like button
should be made exclusively available to these professional accounts. However
when it comes to personal users, I honestly don't think it's necessary. One of
the reasons why Instagram embarked on this trial was to encourage users to
focus more on their content rather than the metrics. In my opinion the only way
we can truly achieve that is to disable the like feature on personal accounts.
We should be validating one another through positive comments and words, not
meaningless numbers.
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