Instagram Is Now Removing ‘Likes’ Worldwide… But Will It Help With Self-Esteem?

Get ready… because Instagram has been experimenting with removing “likes” from posts, and now the company is expanding the test worldwide.

According to TechCrunch, the company has been removing likes from some accounts in Australia, Canada, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Japan, and New Zealand since July.

CEO Adam Mosseri announced last week that the experiment would expand to the U.S. beginning this week, and now an Instagram spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider that today begins a worldwide rollout.

“While the feedback from early testing has been positive, this is a fundamental change to Instagram, and so we’re continuing our test to learn more from our global community,” a spokesperson told the outlet.

Still, before you freak out, not every user will lose likes. It’s only those who are included in the test — and even if you are part of the test, the change may not be permanent, Business Insider notes.

“We will make decisions that hurt the business if they help people’s well-being and health,” Adam said.

Studies have shown that social media may have an impact on our self-esteem and self-worth. This test is not going to remove your visibility of your own likes, but rather it will remove your visibility to see the likes of other people’s posts.

Hopefully, this change will create a better social media environment overall, right?