B Evidence Grade B Graded accuracy verified by the review judge Safe to Cite Dated

38%

38% -- photo like likelihood increase for Instagram photos with human faces (2023)

Name: Photo Like Likelihood Increase Statistics
Creator: Lighthouse Intelligence
Published: 2026-09-18

2023 · n=1,100,000 · Georgia Institute of Technology and Yahoo Labs

Instagram photos featuring human faces are 38% more likely to receive likes compared to photos without faces, based on an analysis of 1.1 million Instagram photos.

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Attribution: Georgia Institute of Technology and Yahoo Labs View source

Lighthouse Research Team

Last verified: 2026-09-18 · How we verify data →

Source verified Evidence graded

Value

38%

Unit

Percentage

Data Vintage

2023

Entity

Instagram photos with human faces

Sample Size

1,100,000

Evidence Quality

Strong, reliable evidence

Sourced from a well-regarded research firm or industry leader with transparent methodology and a reasonably large sample.

61/100 confidence

Single source - not yet corroborated

Score breakdown

Extraction

Source Trust

Citation Chain

Independence

Methodology

Freshness

Source

Georgia Institute of Technology and Yahoo Labs Primary Tier C

https://barbbetts.com/2023/02/im-about-to-say-something-a-little-harsh/ ↗

Confidence: 51/100 Vintage: 2023 Channel: Wayback

Source Article

I'm about to say something a little harsh...

Hopefully you’re setting some time aside this 3-day weekend for YOURSELF. If no one else has reminded you lately, you can’t pour from an empty cup! So check in with yourself and schedule in some down time, it’s necessary. Last week I shared with you a love note from my heart, about how as Real Estat…

Original Research

Georgia Institute of Technology and Yahoo Labs · Original study ↗

Methodology

Georgia Institute of Technology and Yahoo Labs researchers analyzed 1.1 million Instagram photos, comparing photos featuring human faces to photos with no faces for likelihood of receiving likes. Study year not stated in the post; underlying study published ~2014. Cited by the blogger as evidence for face-forward real estate social media content.

Methodology documented

Segmentation

Industrymarketing

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Plain Text

Instagram photos with human faces: 38% photo like likelihood increase. Source: Georgia Institute of Technology and Yahoo Labs (2023). Via Lighthouse Intelligence -- https://lighthousedata.io/data/instagram-face-photos-38-percent-more-likes

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<blockquote cite="https://lighthousedata.io/data/instagram-face-photos-38-percent-more-likes" style="border-left:3px solid #2563eb;padding:12px 16px;margin:16px 0;font-family:system-ui,sans-serif;background:#f0f4ff;"><strong>38%</strong> -- photo like likelihood increase for Instagram photos with human faces<br><small>Source: Georgia Institute of Technology and Yahoo Labs (2023) · <a href="https://lighthousedata.io/data/instagram-face-photos-38-percent-more-likes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lighthouse Intelligence</a></small></blockquote>

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