The social network Instagram, a subsidiary of Facebook, has been testing since July 2019 thethe option to disable «Likes» (mention «I like») in order to make their social network more «healthy». Users will now be able to decide to hide likes on their posts or on those of others, or even keep the standard settings. This initiative was launched in response to the excessive « social pressure » felt by some users when comparing their «real» lives to those of influencers, which often seem more idyllic than their own. This phenomenon was noted in our study on young people's digital habits, conducted with OpinionWay and Lab Heyme in 2020, which reveals that 14% adolescents regularly feel that their lives are not as good as those of others. (impact of digital technology on young people). The race for «likes» sometimes traps teenagers in a «false bubble of perfection» that reflects back to them the image that they are «not good enough», explains Michaël Stora, psychologist and president of the French Observatory of Digital Worlds.
But the removal of likes is not unanimously welcomed, particularly by those who want to track the popularity of their posts, which is why The choice of whether or not to enable likes is left to the discretion of each individual.
