Instagram Test User Create Hide Number Of Likes

Instagram illustration (unsplash)

JAKARTA - Instagram is testing a new feature that allows users to hide the number of 'Likes' on their own or other people's posts. This option is presented as an experiment by removing the 'Likes' icon, which is used to measure a person's popularity.

"In 2019, we started hiding the [likes] count in a small group of people, so we can understand whether this step reduces the pressure when uploading content to Instagram," said a Facebook spokesperson, as quoted by TechCrunch, Friday, April 16.

The initial idea of hiding the number of 'Likes' is to reduce anxiety and embarrassment if content uploaded on Instagram doesn't get a lot of Likes which makes users look less popular. Problems like this are mainly faced by young Instagram users.

In fact, not a few influencers or celebrities feel this will affect their opportunities to work with brands because their level of engagement cannot be seen publicly. Even though they can still see the number of 'Likes; in their posts privately.

This latest trial can only be accessed by a small percentage of users around the world. With this latest system, users can choose three options to show or hide the number of 'Likes', namely choosing to hide in their own posts, or keep using the current system.

Instagram does not reveal how long this trial will take and when this feature will be rolled out more widely. A similar feature will also be tested for Facebook, but it is not known whether the mechanism is the same or different.

"We will learn from this new trial and will have more (information) to share soon," he added.

In fact, this feature has been in development since 2019. Some time ago, Instagram users had experienced an incident of not being able to see the number of 'Likes' and recently it was discovered that the problem was caused by a bug so that many users accidentally participated in the trial of the new system.