InstaThots and fuckboys, take a deep breath because starting next week apparently Instagram is going to start testing out whole new idea of just not showing likes. Clearly someone at Instagram finally watched the Nosedive episode of Black Mirror while under the right mix of some mind altering drugs and decided to do something about it.
BREAKING: Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri has announced that likes will disappear from the platform for US users starting as soon as next week. https://t.co/kwzfLtzxSF
— WIRED (@WIRED) November 9, 2019
Now the important thing to learn before you have a complete mental breakdown is that this is going to be rolling out on “a limited number of accounts”. I don’t know how they are going to select who is having likes taken away but I hope and pray they start with anyone who attended Fyre Festival. I could use a new Netflix documentary.
Instagram models in the thick of NBA and NFL season are about to hit some choppy waters with this test. Are the thirst traps even worth it if no one is able to double tap it? It’s like when a song is a banger but they play it on the radio so much that it ends up making your ears bleed. That’s the sound of an Instagram influencer saying swipe up.
As WIRED previously reported, social media researchers have argued that when users tailor their content to whatever garners the most engagement (or outrage), the result is a radicalized environment that makes healthy, happy conversations almost impossible.
Pretty much saying that getting any sort of reaction on social media makes you a monster. All of us scraping by with 23 likes a photo are the most happy, healthy people around. That’s what I took from that.
It’s the latest step in Instagram’s quest to become the safest place on the internet.
Nice try Instagram, but the safest place on the internet at this point is probably Pornhub. At least they’re upfront about it. As long as direct messages are still a thing, Instagram is going to stay creepy as fuck. You think crazy girls aren’t going to invent a new way to cyberstalk any and every male, ex girlfriend or family member? Think again. We’re like bacteria, thriving in bad conditions.
Instagram can do everything in its power to try to stop people from becoming insufferable narcissists or at home private investigators but we. shall. persist. Caring about how many likes you get on Instagram is so 2014 anyways. Get a personality and go on Twitter like the rest of us.
