In a recent development, Facebook-owned Instagram is considering hiding the number of likes a post gets. This unreleased feature was first noted by social media researcher Jane Manchun Wong, who constantly discovers hidden changes within social media applications.
According to Instagram, ” We want your followers to focus on what you share, not how many likes you get. During this test, only the person who shared a post will see the total number of likes it gets.”
Instagram is testing hiding like count from audiences,
as stated in the app: “We want your followers to focus on what you share, not how many likes your posts get” pic.twitter.com/MN7woHowVN
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) April 18, 2019
Once the feature gets rolled out, only the person who posted a photo will be able to see the number of likes it’s received. The Instagram spokesperson said: “We’re not testing this at the moment, but exploring ways to reduce pressure on Instagram is something we’re always thinking about.”
This move comes as a consequence of the British Information Commissioner’s Office recommendation to ban these features in order to protect the safety and privacy of the platforms’ youngest users.