Instagram To Hide 'Like' Counts in Eight Countries As Part Of Test: Report
Initially, in April 2019, Instagram has considered hiding the like count in the photos, so audiences cannot see how many people liked an individual post. The test indicated that Instagram wants "your followers to focus on what you share, not how many likes your posts get." A person who updated the photo will only be able to see the number of "likes" it has received.
Instagram officially came out in July to say that it's "running a test that hides the total number of likes and video views for some people" in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, and New Zealand.
Adam Mosseri, Instagram CEO has announced at the Wired25 conference that it will start testing hide likes in the US as early in next week.
WATCH: Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri announces that the platform will start hiding likes for US audiences starting next week. It's the latest step in Instagram's quest to become the safest place on the internet. https://t.co/BGkMG57rdk #WIRED25 pic.twitter.com/WNTyAPVhaD
— WIRED (@WIRED) November 9, 2019
So far, in tests that have been rolled out in other countries, likes are hidden from public posts in the Feed, in profiles and on the web. However, the owners of the accounts, the person who posts the feed will still be able to see how many likes they got on a post. Only other people will not be able to see the number of likes.
When Instagram initially announced about removing likes from the platform, a company spokesperson said in a statement, "We want your followers to focus on what you share, not how many likes your posts get."