Travel influencer’s message to Instagram following ‘like’ removal

Travel influencer Christina Galbato, who has been in the game for four years, has a message for Instagram after a major change to the social media platform.

It’s been just over four months since Instagram threw a cat among the “influencer” pigeons.

Cast your minds back to July when – out of nowhere – the 23 likes you’d typically receive for a candid post of yourself walking to work with a green juice in hand captioned with #MoodMonday suddenly disappeared off your screen.

Overnight, that little number that brought so much gratification … anxiety … annoyance … was gone.

Instagram’s “hiding likes” tactic meant the number of ‘likes’ would no longer be published publicly, and the number of people actually enjoying one’s content was only available to the user.

It was a devastating blow to the thousands of influencers around the world who relied on the figure for – let’s be honest – funding their lavish lifestyles.

Australia was one of the first countries to trial the removal of likes on Instagram.

Despite the move being for the greater good (the social media platform said the removal of likes encouraged people to focus on content rather than its reception from the world), the removal of validation put pressure on influencers in a way they’d never experienced.

“Likes are a motivation factor,” Kate Weiland, a Canadian influencer told Business Insider. “Now there’s no audience applause at the end of a performance. It’s kind of like crickets in the background.”

The decision, which went from a trial to a more permanent addition on the social platform this week, has left many influencers nervous. That simple tap of a button had been crucial for business, impacting the extent of their reach and ability to grow their platform.

But some, however, such as travel influencer Christina Galbato, have welcomed the removal.

Writing an opinion piece about the change for CNN, Ms Galbato, who has made a life out of being a travel influencer for her 226k followers, said she hoped the removal of likes stuck around for good.

Christina Galbato has been a travel influencer for four years.

Ms Galbato has travelled the world as part of her job as an influencer.

“I’ve worked as a social media influencer for four years and have experienced the many positive aspects of this industry,” she wrote.

“I’ve seen the way a body positive influencer’s motivational words encourage young, insecure girls to feel beautiful in their own skin.

“But I’ve also seen the more negative aspects, such as the emotional stress that comes from creating content with the exclusive goal of getting as many people as possible to double-tap, or like, our photos.

“As we take photos and decide which to post, we always ask the question, ‘Will this perform well?’

“And if it doesn’t, we take it personally. Influencers often have an emotional tie to the images they create, so when that ideal number isn’t hit, we interpret the lower like count to mean that our content isn’t up to par.”

Ms Galbato says she’s witnessed the more negative aspects of social media.

She hopes Instagram gets rid of 'likes' for good.

Ms Galbato, who has travelled the world to idyllic locations like Portofino in Italy, Playa del Carmen in Mexico and swum with sharks in The Bahamas, said “likes” had always created a “point of comparison” among influencers. But the change now puts the onus on influencers to up their game rather than simply gunning for likes.

“I am a 26-year-old woman that has felt the impact of how fewer likes can hurt motivation and, sometimes, self-esteem,” she said of the social media change.

The 26-year-old says brands will need to be smarter when collaborating with influencers.

“I struggle to grapple with what it must be like to be a teenager now dealing with bullying at school because their numbers aren’t quite as high as a classmate’s (and) without having the proper neurological development to know that likes do not equal worth in any way.

“For as long as users can remember, likes have been a hugely important metric for basic engagement levels.

“I do not envision the number of brand collaborations to lessen in any way. But it will likely change how collaborations are carried out.”

Ms Galbato says she's felt the impact of having less likes on her posts.

She’s been a travel influencer for four years.

With a following of almost three million fans, Melbourne-based influencer Mikaela Testa said the elimination of likes was frustrating and a “sad day” for those who relied on the social media platform for work.

“Regardless of what you may think Instagram is a REAL job and those in the industry have worked hard to get where they’re at,” she wrote on Facebook in July following the start of the “no-like” trial.

“It’s people that aren’t even in the industry that think it’s a f**king joke. It’s not, it’s real damage out here.”

Mikaela Testa, who has over 350k followers on Instagram, is not impressed with the removal of likes.

Ms Galbato, however, hopes Instagram sticks with the change, and says while some influencers may see the shift in the metrics as a negative, for her it simply means brands will need to get smarter with their collaborations.

“Brands will now need to take a deeper dive into a creator’s content and into the quality of the conversations they are having with their audience,” she wrote.

“This is the true test of an influencer’s impact and ultimately, of the return on investment a brand can expect.

“Instagram’s test to explore removing likes reflect a larger cultural call for connection, community and authenticity online. I believe it would be a welcome change that all users could appreciate.”