Instagram Getting Rid Of 'Likes' & 'Views' Count Might Be The Best Decision They Ever Made
Because bettering mental health and self-esteem should be a priority.
Back in April 2019, Instagram made an announcement that they were testing out the removal of Instagram likes/views in other countries around the globe. The purpose of this test was to see if it would remove the pressure off of people who struggle with their self-esteem and mental health. My question is:
WHY haven't they done this sooner?
I say this because social media sets all of these unrealistic expectations for people with low self-esteem. Having "likes" represents the popularity and likeliness of a person, which also comes with anxiety and depression. Let's say you post a picture of yourself that you really thought you looked good in, but after 5 hours, it only gets 9 likes. You get embarrassed, delete the photo and question if you are worthy and valid. You say horrible things to yourself like, "Wow, this wasn't a good photo. I'm ugly." I mean, something like that. The desire for likes may also contribute to body dysmorphia, eating disorders and other mental disorders.
Most of the "Instagram models" you see are women with surgically enhanced bodies and filtered editing, which sends girls the wrong message. It tells those viewers that they must look a certain way to earn likes/views. More and more women are getting plastic surgery and dying on the table just to obtain those followers, which is really sad. People will also do pranks, do crazy and dangerous dares, disrespect others or cause a scene, or simply become influencers. I understand that you have to eat and there's nothing more rewarding than hustling. However, my point is that most people on that app will do anything for likes.
The desire for obtaining hundreds of likes has made us get out of character and feel as if we must put on a face for attention. Just to be clear, there is a difference between confidence and attention-seeking. If you want to post your naked body as a way to inspire young people to love theirs, do it. But if you're posting your naked body only to obtain likes and validation from people who only want THAT, you're losing track of what is important. Behind those likes may be someone who is broken or has low self-esteem and relies on excess filters and Photoshop to feel wanted. This is not okay and I wish Instagram did this sooner.
Now, what about the social media influencers?
Like I said earlier, a lot of people with a big following can be known as "social media influencers," who advertise and talk about brands in exchange for money. I get it, you have to find ways to eat and provide for yourself. There should still be a way for those influencers to make their money, but what matters most is about the mental health of viewers.
Removing Instagram likes will help users not feel so much pressure when posting a photo. What happened to posting a picture for fun? Why do you have to post a picture at a certain time for people to like it?
You can say that this generation is "sensitive" all you want, but the amount of suicide rates are heartbreaking.
Remember this: Your worth shouldn't be determined based off of a like on social media. if you are feeling good about yourself, you shouldn't let other people tell you otherwise. A healthy environment is a happy environment.
Thank you all for coming to my TED Talk!
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We All Need To Learn How To Combat Nasty Comments, One Tweet At A Time
To post or not to post . . . that is the question. Ever not known how to get your point across without typing in all caps and hurling insults left and right? Yeah, me too.
I have a hard time knowing how to respond to something that just seems so utterly wrong in my mind. How do you gently tell someone everything they've ever believed is sexist or racist or just unethical? Do you even tell them? How do you decide whether to speak up or not? What medium should you use to talk to them? Will your posts come back to haunt you when you're looking for a job? If you've ever been frustrated with these questions, you are not alone! I still don't know all the answers.
It's difficult to know when and where to post/comment/talk in our day and age where social media reigns king over all. I don't know about you, but I'm paranoid about everything I put on the internet under my name because I'm worried it'll come back to bite me in the butt when potential employers google me. I've had a lot of recent experience struggling with when and where and how to reply to something I don't agree with online.
Check out my article about checking yourself (before wrecking yourself) on your social media comments here!
The things I keep in the forefront of my mind when deciding whether to post or not are respect and validation. No matter what someone posts on their social media page, every person deserves to be respected and to have their experiences and opinions validated. I want to make sure I respect and validate everyone because that's how I want to be treated when someone comments on my social media posts. Even if I just want to tear the other person's argument apart, I do my best to have calm, respectful conversations. If anything, hopefully, anyone who sees your comments will understand your good intentions of educating the person you're arguing with. These good intentions are necessary for the person to actually listen to you.
If I start yelling out meaningless insults in between insightful comments, the person is only going to be blinded by the insults. They won't even begin to consider what I have to say because they're too busy being offended.
My goal isn't to offend anyone - it's to educate them about my thoughts so they can maybe be well-informed citizens. I don't want to make people angry; I want to get someone to rethink their opinions and take a look from a different perspective. No, this won't resolve the world's issues, and I'm not claiming it will. But if we respond out of kindness and understanding instead of hurt and animosity, we just might be able to sway someone's opinion or (as the kids are saying these days) spark some "woke" thoughts.