Getting rid of Instagram's 'like' button can improve mental health?

Ten years after introducing the ‘like’ button, popular social media platform Instagram now intends to get rid of it.

Following this, the company is experimenting with it currently in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Brazil, Ireland and Italy.

This prevents users from seeing how many ‘likes’ a post has as many studies link social media usage to mental health conditions.

Under the new update, ‘likes’ will still be visible to users and followers if they choose to see them and count them manually but Instagram won’t show the number as a tally under a post.

Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri said this is being done to “worry a little bit less about how many likes they’re [users] getting on Instagram and spend a bit more time connecting with the people that they care about”. 

Vogue, however, looks at whether getting rid of the ‘like’ reward system will really help deal with the mental health problems associated with social media.

Dr Helen Sharpe, a clinical psychologist specialising in adolescent mental health and body image thinks the update is “likely to be a helpful step” but bigger steps need to be taken.

Psychotherapist Barbara Volkar doesn’t see it as a radical move but believes it is rather ‘aspirational imagery’ which is problematic.

Some Instagram influencers think the removal of ‘likes’ won’t make much difference to the businesses of successful influencers as the focus will shift towards comments, which are more valuable for clients. It might affect those who bought fake likes and followers though, they believe.