Influencers will need to get a real job if “likes” are removed from Facebook and Instagram, with careers already destroyed less than a week after the ban had been enforced in Australia.
Instagram in Australia removed the
“like” count leading to outrage
and praise for the decision.
The new rules were supposed to get rid
of the fear of unpopularity if somebody doesn’t receive many likes. Whereas you’re able to post an image and still be able to
see how many likes you
get for the image, no one would be able to see your like count.
Similarly, users would still be able
to like others’ footage however wouldn’t be able to
see how many likes it
had received.
The ban may shortly impact South Africa, which features a burgeoning influencer market. Nadia Jaftha,
Aqeelah Harron Ally, Aisha Baker and Kim Jayde have been earning lucrative incomes from sponsored posts and marketing campaigns online.
Marketing campaigns and sponsorships are determined by the number of likes and followers an influencer has.
Weekend Argus has reported micro-influencers were paid as much as R500 a post, whereas popular influencers could command between R5 000 and R10 000.
Mia Garlick, director of policy for Facebook Australia
and New Zealand, said in a statement the removal of likes was a test.
“We hope this test will take away the pressure of how many likes a post will
receive, thus you’ll be able to concentrate on sharing the items you love,” she said.
“We are currently rolling the test out to Australia so we can learn additional regarding how this may benefit people’s experiences on
Instagram, and whether or not this transformation can facilitate individuals focus
less on likes and more on
telling their story.”
Instagram posted that the test had
been enforced in seven
countries as well as Brazil,
Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan and New Zealand.
The change has seemingly had a negative impact
on Australia’s influencers with many users
already unfollowing them, in line
with analytics website Social
Blade, whereas most
South African influencers have shown a rise in followers.
Married at First Sight reality star Elizabeth Sobinoff’s page has
taken a big hit with
over 1 000 followers
unfollowing her – she had over 207000 followers.
Mikaela Testa from Melbourne posted a video ranting regarding Instagram’s like ban,
claiming it affected her business considerably as
Instagram has been how she advertised her solely Fans website to her almost 50 000 followers.
Testa claimed to be making in more
than AUD $12 000 (R118 596) a month from her pornographic photos, that she sold on only Fans.
Several other influencers reported to have been troubled to retain
followers without the like count.