Instagram's trial to hide number of 'likes' may save users' self-esteem



Instagram is running a social media experiment in Australia and elsewhere to see what happens when it hides the number of likes on photos and other posts.

If you have an Instagram account, you’ll get to see the numbers but your followers won’t – at least, not automatically. They will be able to click and see who liked your post, but will have to count the list of names themselves.

The trial is taking place right now in six countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan and New Zealand. Canada has just finished its trial.

It’s a bold move by Instagram, but arguably a necessary one. There is growing concern about the effect of social media on young people’s mental health and self–esteem.
Read more: Women can build positive body image by controlling what they view on social media

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tech billionaires making friends with Big Brother

Image
There are no atheists in foxholes, and no tech regulators in a coronavirus lockdown. What was once thunderously de­s­cr­ibed as “surveillance capitalism” is now a pandemic necessity. Twitch is where our children go to school; Twitter where epidemiological models are debated; and WhatsApp where we have drinks with friends. Some 40 per cent of the world’s population is living under lockdown, according to AFP, creating exactly the kind of bored and isolated citizens whose fingers linger over their Facebook app button, as my colleague Alex Webb notes. Our personal information is hoovered up as before, but data privacy is now gone from our hierarchy of needs. Likewise, the market power that made Big Tech look so dangerous makes it look vital and dependable now. Amazon.com Inc., which has always wanted to be the Everything Store, is now the Only Store in cities like Paris or San Francisco, where it’s an essential lifeline for a myriad of household goods (with some restrictions...
Read more

Apple acquires weather app Dark Sky, to shut down Android version in June

Image
Apple  has acquired popular weather app Dark Sky and will shut down its Android and Wear OS versions in July. However, terms of the deal was not disclosed. According to Dark Sky, service to existing users and subscribers will continue until July 1, at which point the app will be shut down. Subscribers who are still active at that time will receive a refund. The Android app of Dark Sky has been downloaded more than a million times on playstore. "Our goal has always been to provide the world with the best weather information possible, to help as many people as we can stay dry and safe, and to do so in a way that respects your privacy," Dark Sky co-founder Adam Grossman said in a statement on Tuesday. "There is no better place to accomplish these goals than at Apple. We're thrilled to have the opportunity to reach far more people, with far more impact, than we ever could alone," he added. Read Complete Article
Read more

Finance Ministry tells state-run banks to shore up credit to MSMEs

Image
Union Budget 2019 : The finance ministry has told the chief executives of all public sector banks (PSBs) to review credit facilities made available to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and take ‘corrective’ measures to ensure the firms get adequate funds. The finance ministry has told the PSB chief executives in an official communication to assign a chief general manager, or a general manager-level officer to “do an in-depth analysis of the progress made and issues in availability of credit, still being faced by the MSMEs”. While taking “corrective actions” and doing the analysis, nodal general managers are supposed to submit details to the finance ministry of MSMEs taking credit from banks, non-performing MSME accounts, MSME accounts restructured following to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) January scheme and the MSMEs still uncovered by it, among others. Read Complete Article
Read more