In the days following my father’s death, there were many things I dreaded—sharing the news on social media was one of them. The love for my dad was well documented on my Instagram, so the pressure was on to get the announcement just right it felt both intense and superficially silly. In the end, I chose to turn off likes and comments on the post because I didn’t want to see engagement for something that was completely heartfelt.
Yesterday I opened Instagram and noticed an update: Under each photo, next to the number of likes and comments, I could now see how many times a post had been shared on my feed. As far as I could tell, this was true for every account across the board—from those with the coveted blue checkmark to friends with fewer than 500 followers. Verified accounts have always had access to this information through a private dashboard, after all, but it was never publicly available until now. And as someone who has recently found social media very sad, I suddenly felt self-aware too.
In 2019, Instagram created the ability to hide the number of likes on your posts, with the head of the platform, Adam Mosseri, explaining, “We want people to worry a little less about how many likes they’re getting and spend a little more. time to bond with the people they care about.”
The option came after a slew of third-party scientific studies released surprising findings about the effects of social media on our psyche (an ongoing field of study). Its use is linked to lower self-esteem and can lead to disordered eating. Following engagement (meaning likes, comments, and shares)—an important form of validation for most social media users—can be especially toxic or triggering for young women. (Of course, social media has its benefits, too, including helping people find community when they feel isolated.)
This week’s update felt like a big step back in the move to reduce social media pressures. “We recently started counting shares on feed posts, and we hope this is a useful measure to understand what resonates with others using Instagram,” shares a Meta spokesperson. Vogue. The change is consistent with the way scrolls are viewed and will soon roll out globally.
However, Meta’s spokesperson adds that, like 2019’s option to hide likes, you can choose to hide shares by going to your Instagram settings, clicking or tapping “Likes & Share Counts” (under the “What see”) and selecting “Hide number of likes and shares”.
Because of this latest update, my dad’s death is now associated with Instagram metrics. Two hundred and twelve – that’s how many times the Instagram post I wrote about his beautiful life, death and 33 years we spent together was shared. It was a number I didn’t want to know – a number I was trying to avoid. If Meta is serious about advancing its digital wellness initiatives (after all, they have an entire page dedicated to it), providing more data about the “success” of a post is not the way to go. to do this.
#Instagrams #update #worse #mental #health
Image Source : www.vogue.com