These changes mean that there will now be less social pressure on people to get lots of likes, interactions and attention.
We all know that link counts are going away on Instagram. It’s been heavily publicised, heavily debated and heavily discussed.
But you might not know that the very same thing is happening on Facebook.
Facebook is officially beginning to remove these counts, and they’re beginning in Australia. This count removal will work in a similar way to Instagram’s shift:
with Facebook likes, the posts’s author can still see the count, but it’s hidden from everyone else who sees it.
And this won’t just apply to likes. It’ll also apply to the Love, Haha, Wow, Sad and Angry reactions.
Why the change?
As mentioned by Buffer, this idea has arisen due to the negative impact social media can have upon mental heath, self-esteem and self worth.
These changes mean that there will now be less social pressure on people to get lots of likes, interactions and attention – and that reducing this competition will lead to less problematic use of social media.
It’s important to note that the removal of these like counts is still being treated as a test. A Facebook spokesperson said:
We are running a limited test where like, reaction, and video view counts are made private across Facebook. We will gather feedback to understand whether this change will improve people’s experiences
If this test can improve well being and self esteem without reducing Facebook engagement, the changes could well be rolled out to other countries.
Will this affect my brand’s marketing?
This may well trigger a move towards attention metrics, instead of just focusing on like counts. Marketers, in this respect, are possibly ahead of the curve. For a while now, instead of focusing simply on likes, marketers have been considering other metrics such as:
- Completion rate for Stories
- Video watch time and audience retention
- Referral traffic and attribution
- Engagement rate
A like can be a very ambiguous marketing measure. But the metrics above can be much more helpful and specific. So while these like counts may be going away, it shouldn’t affect how your brand markets.