The Psychology of Likes: Relevance of Feedback on Instagram and Relationship to Self-Esteem and Social Status

Public Policy Relevance Statement Putting a high value on other users' feedback on Instagram (e.g., likes, followers) is associated with low self-esteem and a low perceived social status on Instagram. Moreover, users with low perceived social status are more active on Instagram and, for example, report making posts more frequently or commenting on others' posts, which may indicate a wish to attract attention and boost their self-worth. Thus, our study can contribute to assessing current interventions such as invisible likes to reduce social pressure and competition on social media. Social media such as Instagram have become extremely popular and part of many people's daily routine. At the same time, critics see mental health risks, warning that posts can turn into a competition and users become addicted to other users' feedback (e.g., likes, new followers) to boost their self-esteem. In line with such concerns, Instagram recently started an invisible likes test phase in several countries. The present study relates such claims and interventions to the academic literature and empirical research. We refer to existing concepts and models such as impression management, media addiction, and the uses and gratification approach, considering subjective feedback relevance as a proxy for individually perceived gratification. As a complement to previous research, which typically examined social media feedback in terms of frequency (e.g., number of likes received), our field study among 255 Instagram users surveyed subjective feedback relevance, that is, individual differences in how important one considers other users' feedback in the form of likes or other engagement on Instagram. We explored the relationships between subjective feedback relevance and usage behavior and the correlations between these measures and self-esteem and subjective social status. Low self-esteem and low social status were associated with higher feedback relevance; low social status was further correlated with high engagement in many Instagram activities and choosing to have a public profile. Our study's limitations, future research tasks, and practical implications for well-being-oriented media design are discussed.