Instagram has long been known as the end all, be all of the social media. The platform is an outlet to everyone from your grandma to LA influencers who have made a living (a good one, at that) on a couple of posts a week. The app has come a long way from its launch in 2010 as a location app.
Yep, you read that right. Instagram was a location app, similar to the idea of Find My Friends and "check-in" on Facebook... no pictures! Nevertheless, Instagram has evolved into the largest social media platform to date thanks to countless updates and new ideas since that 2010 brainstorm idea.
To this day, the team loves to surprise its users with the most technologically advance updates in hopes of continued use. Well, we may have another one coming to that change the way we know Instagram.
Recently, Instagram has become aware of mental health issues that the app causes some people. That is, the growing belief that the more likes and followers we have, the "cooler" we are and this is becoming an obsession. This leads to a dangerous habit of distorting pictures from the original and posting a photo that is far from what was taken in the first place.
Look, I'll be the first to admit that I'll whiten my teeth in pictures before posting. However, nothing good comes from posting a selfie that looks NOTHING like you! When people constantly thin their face, make their nose smaller, lips bigger, hips smaller, and butt bigger, the end result is almost a completely different person. All of this for hopes of getting more likes or followers. This is what Instagram is looking to put an end to.
After screenshots surfaced of a few accounts affected by a test update, users started to question. The update showed that only you can see who liked your picture, no one else knows the exact number of people who double-tapped. They also tried to hide the follower account. While you can still see analytics on business accounts, no one else has any way of knowing.
Instagram states, "We want your followers to focus on what you share, not how many likes your post gets." Basically, they want you to follow someone because you like them, not because other people like them. And honestly, I LOVE THAT.
Instagram hasn't made a decision and is still testing different ways to approach this problem. Meanwhile, they say, "exploring ways to reduce pressure on Instagram is something we are always thinking about."
Influencers, I would keep an eye out for this one.
