Originally written by Lois Freail on Small Business
The role social media plays in society is increasingly prominent in terms of both our professional and personal lives.
Professionally, it’s become a great tool for sales and leveraging a brand’s position in their industry. Personally, it’s a platform for development, friendship and maintaining connections, but it also presents a hive of declining self-confidence and the portrayal of false expectations.
It’s the negative side of social media that the network leaders are looking to change.
Instagram have paved the way with this, announcing that they’ll be trialling hiding like counts in a new test where the only person who will be able to see the figures will be the profile owners.
The move is to encourage users to “focus on the photos and videos you share, not how many likes they get,” moving away from the use of vanity metrics that can negatively influence some users.
The test has sent a wave of concern and worry through the community of social influencers and digital marketers who often rely on these metrics to prove the worth and success of their profiles and campaigns.
It therefore leaves us to question; what does the future

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