First Instagram, now there’s another social platform began to beta test on hiding like counts on their platform.
If you don’t know it already, that other platform I was referring to is Facebook.
As of 27 September, Facebook began its covert operation in hiding likes, making it visible to the post’s author only. And the social media giant has chosen Australia to be its experiment’s ground zero.
During this testing, all posts INCLUDING the advertisement’s reaction count is hidden from the public. However, the test is currently running only on the mobile app. You can still see the like count from your Facebook web browser if you want to.
If you’re wondering how does the hidden like view look like, here’s an example taken from my Facebook public page.
I hope this gives you a general idea of how post-reaction count is hidden from the phone app.
You might be wondering; if this is only on the mobile app and not the web browser it doesn’t really matter, right?
The answer is, IT MATTERS! In fact, it is pretty much matters.
Have a look at these 2 graphs that are taken from Statista.com, recording the increasing number of mobile social media users every year.
Mobile phones have become a MUST HAVE gadget for most of us in this era. Wherever we go we are constantly on our phones; be it for work-related tasks or just scrolling through the social media feeds.
As mentioned in my last post about Instagram hiding their like count, there are many people, especially businesses that depend on the numbers of likes and reaction to position them in a more favourable position when they do advertising.
This is seen more on Facebook. The more likes the post has, the higher the credibility it reflects the targeted audience.
Will this affect the business that relies on Facebook to advertise?
YES! In fact, it doesn’t just affect businesses that are located in Australia, but also beyond it. Any online businesses that intend to put Australia as their targeted market has to rethink the way they advertise their content.
As of today, many businesses rely heavily on high reaction count to give them the credibility they need to convince the audience. And from the user’s perspective, the first thing we often do is look at the reaction count before deciding to tap on the advertised post.
We are truly on our way to the content curation era.
As I mentioned countless times before in some of my previous articles and also on my social media posts, the era where everybody is a content curator is really on its way. It is happening right now.
It’s no longer the brand’s responsibility to tell how good their brand is, but it’s up to us as a user to decide through analyzing the content and conducting tons of research on the relevant forums or review sites to decide whether the said brand is good for them or otherwise.
That is why it is so important for all brands to start crafting their own content and build their content authority. Listen, the days of hard selling is really reaching its end point.
Brands need to start building their own niche by crafting content that speaks relevantly to their targeted audiences. I may sound dire here, but this is not the end of the world. It is just another opportunity to step up and make improvements to your branding strategy.
If you’re stuck and you’re wondering how you can make it better, well, you can actually start by changing the way you produce and distribute your content. Think value, think from the shoes of your audiences, think of why they should choose you over your competitors out there.
You can check out my simple tips on how to create meaningful content here to begin with. And if you have any questions, be sure to drop your comments down at the comment section below and let’s discuss it.
