Opinion: Will removing ‘likes’ from Instagram stop addiction?

Double click the picture and a heart appears, letting both the poster and everyone else know that you like what they shared. That’s what makes Instagram work—at least for now.

Instagram has announced its interest in hiding the number of “likes” on posts from public view. Instagram revealed that they “want your followers to focus on what you share, not how many likes” the post receives.

The CEO of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, told NPR that the members of the company “want people to worry a little bit less about how many likes they’re getting on Instagram, [and] spend a bit more time connecting with the people they care about.”

According to NPR, Instagram is currently testing the feature in seven different countries.

While the number of likes would be hidden from public view, the account user of the post will still be able to privately view the information.

CNET News wrote that getting rid of the like feature will hopefully stop obsession with likes on the app as it will hide that information from the public eye.

The problem?

The poster will still see the number of likes, making this effort pointless.

The whole reasoning behind deleting the feature is to help end the addiction to the social media site. However, if the poster can still see the likes, they can see how popular they are compared to previous posts.

Ending the public likes will not change anything. People will continue to post for the number of likes they can get because they still can compare themselves to their past posts. Even if the like feature was deleted entirely, the comparison would shift to how many followers the account had.

Should Instagram take the like feature away from the public eye? They can if they want, but it won’t stop the comparison. Those who are truly addicted to social media will find a way to compare themselves with others simply because that is their obsession. Their vice dictates how they live, and hiding a small part is not going to stop their addiction.

According to a study published on ScienceDirect, an estimated 210 million people around the globe are addicted to social media.

This is not an insignificant number. Millions upon millions of people struggle with social media addiction, and they have somehow found a way to pin it on the developers instead of taking responsibility.

Instead of blaming a company and asking for them to change, we should recognize the problem and take action in our own lives. According to the London School of Economics and Political Science, 59 percent of internet users on Instagram are between the ages of 18 and 29. This means most Instagram users are adults and should be able to take responsibility for their own actions instead of throwing a temper tantrum at the company. 

The fact is, comparison never ends. While I applaud Instagram for its efforts, it is impossible to help everyone. Addiction of the few is considered a problem that the individuals need help with. With social media, the blame falls instead on the companies that engineered the program.

Social media addiction is not the responsibility of Instagram to control — it is the individual with the addiction.