In a technology-dependent lifestyle, most of our time is consumed by scrolling through various social networking sites. It has been observed that many users are more keen to know how many likes they get on their pictures and posts. The addiction to tracking likes on social media has made many users cross the line and resort to drug abuse, studies have shown.  One of the most popular picture-sharing platforms, Facebook-owned Instagram has faced this issue among its users. The application has the iconic "heart" that shows how many individuals have liked your picture or post. Due to the addictive nature of the need to get one's pictures liked, it is observed that people tend to spend most of the day's time to gain traffic. Instagram is now reportedly working on a prototype to curb this problem. 

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

In the new variant of Instagram, only the user will be able to see how many likes they have received. In other words, the application will no longer show who have clicked "like" below the post, as in its current version. 

Commenting on the development, Instagram stated, "We want your followers to focus on what you share, not how many likes your posts get. During this test, only the person who shares a post will see the total number of likes it gets."
“We’re not testing this at the moment, but exploring ways to reduce pressure on Instagram is something we’re always thinking about,” they added.

It is still unclear as to when Instagram will release this version for public use. Meanwhile, the prototype is undergoing several tests to determine if it fulfils the required objective. Nonetheless, it seems to be a very positive step taken from the social networking platform the eradicate issues pertaining to addiction.