Instagram has over 200 million active monthly users. With these user numbers, there is no mystery as to why so many business owners are using this platform to promote their products/services. This Facebook-owned social media platform has exploded in popularity over the last few years.
However, the old way of doing things at Instagram is slowly fading away. Recently, this platform announced several changes that are designed to make the user experience better. These changes have not come without a great deal of controversy. Here are just some of the things you need to know about the changing landscape of Instagram.
Likes are Going the Way of the Dinosaur
In the beginning, Instagram users were consumed with getting likes from their audience. While users will still be able to like posts on Instagram, they will be taken out of public view. Most Instagram influencers make money based on the number of likes they receive. Without these likes, influencers are unable to show companies how much engagement their posts get.
When asked about how these changes affected influencers, Instagram said they were solely focused on making the user experience better. Most experts agree that this change is an attempt by Instagram to make their platform a healthier place for their users to interact. As previously mentioned, likes will still be calculated, but others won’t be able to see how many likes a particular post has received.
Instagram is Expanding the Use of Third-Party Fact Checkers
Instagram is not the first social media platform to wage war against fake news stories. Just last year, Facebook announced measures it was taking to weed out this misinformation from their website. By expanding the use of third-party fact checkers, Instagram hopes to find and remove these fake stories promptly.
When these posts are flagged as false, they will be removed from both the hashtag and Explore pages. This change will still be in line with Facebook,s policy of not fact checking the ads submitted by politicians.
The Use of Anti-Bullying Technology
Since the dawn of social media, cyber-bullying has been an ongoing problem. In an attempt to reduce this problem, Instagram is using anti-bullying technology. This technology will present notifications to users if parts of their posts are deemed offensive or harmful to other users. In the past year, Instagram unveiled anti-bullying technology that informed users when the comments they were about to post were offensive.
The technology being used for his purpose is powered by artificial intelligence (AI). This AI-infused program looks for trigger words and phrases. Instagram hopes that by presenting a user with a message about potentially offensive content, they will see the error of their ways and avoid posting it.
Need Help Navigating the Changing Social Media Landscape?
If you are confused about how to deal with the changes in the world of social media and online marketing, let Web Marketing Pros help you. Our team works hard to make social media marketing easy for business owners. With our help, you can increase the number of sales leads you get from social media sites like Facebook and Instagram.