Lifestyle

How to win friends and make millions: the new social currency



Social currency is changing. Earlier this month, Instagram announced it would be hiding the number of likes on users’ posts, and the influencers aren’t happy. “I used to work six hours a day but now I’m working eight hours a day because the ‘likes’ are going down,” one Instagram model complained. “It’s not just me suffering, it’s every brand and business I know,” wailed another. After all, likes are big business: according to Hopper HQ’s annual Instagram rich list this month, Kylie Jenner earns almost £1 million for a single post. But is this a shift in a more authentic direction? Or will influencers have to change tactics? 

Numbers game

Instagram may be hiding the like count but this won’t stop its impact: according to experts, the platform’s algorithm is like-dependent whether the heart-count is public or not, so it will still affect what shows up on your feed. Plus, you’ll get the same dopamine hit as you’ll still be able to see your own heart tally; it’s just your followers who won’t, unless they click on your post and count the likes manually (which could take some time if you’re Kylie Jenner). 

As for likes’ effect on the influencer economy, there are plenty more “vanity metrics” to choose from, insists social media consultant Jemima Gibbons. Follower interaction is a growing focus for marketing brands, and you’ll still be able to see someone’s follower count (Cristiano Ronaldo currently tops the list, with more than 176 million). 

Comments are the new likes 

“I think this will implore people to ask followers to comment more, and that usually works in a brand’s favour,” says Joe Gagliese, co-founder of influencing marketing agency Viral Nation. “A comment is more meaningful than a lazy like.” 

To attract more comments, experts recommend asking questions, showing vulnerability and asking people to tag friends who might identify with your post. 

Other side of the story

The move away from likes has already begun, says David Shadpour, founder of California-based content company Social Native. Facebook and Instagram have increasingly been pushing users towards Stories “since they believe the future is in short-form videos, not static images or News Feed,” he says. 

Though Stories doesn’t have any public metrics, this hasn’t stopped it from exploding in popularity. Users won’t be limited by the best times of day to post, and they’ll have to engage more deeply with followers if they want to get noticed. Founder of digital agency Moving Image & Content Quynh Mai suggests influencers take a leaf out of YouTubers’ books: “That eco-system is about building community, responding to comments, reading fan letters in a YouTube video — a deeper engagement with the fanbase — whereas Instagram engagement with your fanbase was based on emojis and thumbs-up and likes, which is a shallow measurement of community,” he told News In Asia last week. “As Gen Z grows up, their mandate for engagement is so different. They want a vote, they want to be a part of the conversation.”

Thinking outside the box 

Gibbons believes social media is “fragmenting”. Snapchat — which doesn’t measure likes — added 13 million daily active users in the second quarter of this year, and influencers and brands are starting to leave Instagram platforms like short-form video app TikTok, according to Alessandro Bogliari, CEO of The Influencer Marketing Factory. 

 

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