Instagram yesterday started hiding “likes” on its platform in Australia, Brazil and several other major markets, saying it wanted to ease pressure on users, following criticism about its impacts on mental health.
The Facebook Inc-owned social media giant’s trial changes mean users in the six countries will no longer be able to see the number of likes other people’s posts receive.
“We want Instagram to be a place where people feel comfortable expressing themselves,” Facebook Australia and New Zealand policy director Mia Garlick said in a statement. “We hope this test will remove the pressure of how many likes a post will receive, so you can focus on sharing the things you love.”
Australia, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Brazil and New Zealand are involved in the new trial, which follows an initial test that was launched in Canada in May.
Although Instagram described the hiding of the likes for users as a “test,” no deadline was given for when it would end.
Instagram, which has more than 1 billion users, is a platform that allows users to post images and videos that others can then like or comment on.
However, in the chosen test countries, likes will not be visible on people’s profiles, the main image feed or permalink pages.
While Instagram users will still be able to view the total number of likes on their own posts, they will need to click through to another page to do so.
Social media giants have faced increased scrutiny over the impact their platforms can have on users, and there is some research to suggest Instagram can negatively affect the mental health of young people who use it.
A 2017 study by the Royal Society for Public Health ranked Instagram as the worst social media platform for young people’s mental health in the UK.
A survey of teenagers in the US by the Pew Research Center last year found that nearly 40 percent felt pressure to only share digital content that had garnered a lot of likes or comments.
Another statement from Instagram emphasized they were in response to concerns about the pressures that users felt.
“We are testing this because we want your followers to focus on the photos and videos you share, not how many likes they get,” an Instagram spokesman said. “We don’t want Instagram to feel like a competition.”
The latest measure came just a week after Instagram implemented new features aimed at curbing online bullying using artificial intelligence.
In another effort introduced in February to safeguard the mental health of young users, Instagram clamped down on images related to self harm.
It said the measures to conceal likes would not affect measurement tools used by businesses that use the platform to promote their products.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”