It's here. Instagram has officially dropped like counts on posts

The landscape is changing again... Instagram just keeps throwing the punches and we are ready to catch them. Liking for the sake of liking is not going to get you anywhere anymore.

Zucks has just announced that Australian users will be the second target market to trial the removal of total likes on photos and videos within the feed, permalink pages and profiles after the concept was initially trialed in May in Canada and deemed a success.

They are also suspected to be cracking down on influencers and reducing their reach if their content is not deemed appropriate. Both of these moves are set to curve the competition, reduce bullying and make Instagram a friendly place to hang out for everyone. Not just those in the inner insta circle.

Mia Garlick, the Director of Public Policy for Facebook and Instagram told Hack that the platform is for people to express themselves creatively and follow their passions and that it is not a competition.

The change is set to refresh the soul of Instagram and the tech giant is hoping that they can improve the user experience on Instagram and let people focus on telling their story rather than competing for the most likes.

Users will still be able to access the data themselves, however it will not be public knowledge and bragging rights will be diminished. As a result, influencers and those that work in the industry like us will see significant changes in how we collect data and interpret it.

Do you need help navigating this new change, drop us a line. We are already way ahead of this game having suggested it a couple of months ago and have strategies in place to work within this new landscape.

Instagram will continue to roll out the changes country by country in the coming months in a bid to change the way we communicate with each other online.