Instagram might allow users to hide ‘Likes’, Facebook could follow suit

Instagram, the popular photo and video sharing platform, has begun experimenting with a new feature that allows the user to hide ‘Like’ counts on a post.

For the record, the American social networking service has been experimenting with the apparent feature since early 2019. However, Instagram is currently making the feature available to selected users.

The company claims to have revisited the user feedback is collected from the previous experiments. Instagram’s parent, Facebook Inc., has confirmed that it will begin testing a similar element on its social network as well.

Some experts claimed that removing Likes could help in reducing the herd mentality that drives users to be partial to posts that are already popular, as compared to judging the content for themselves. However, most users failed to agree to the removal of Likes. Some users claimed that having Like counts helps in understanding what is currently popular and trending.

This argument of keeping Likes was more from the influencer community, who use the metric to communicate with their partners, advertisers, and brands. Lower engagement rates on posts would directly translate to reduced earnings for these creators, experts claimed.

These opinions compelled Instagram to allow users to toggle ‘Likes’ as per their convenience. The selected users can find the option to hide Likes in the app's Settings. Meanwhile, creators will be able to hide Likes before posting the content.

The new test is likely to be allowed for selected users across the globe. The tests on Facebook have not yet begun, however, the company has claimed to roll out the feature in the coming weeks.

It is worth mentioning here that if the influencer community opts to continue using Likes as a means to translate popularity as well as job prospects, the other users are likely to follow similar trends.

Source Credits –

https://techcrunch.com/2021/04/14/instagrams-new-test-lets-you-choose-if-you-want-to-hide-likes-facebook-test-to-follow/