Instagram, video-sharing social networking platform, has introduced a feature that will allow users to hide likes due to “negative pressure” concerns.
The Facebook-owned platform announced this on Wednesday, months after it first began testing the feature.
Noting that the aim is to “depressurise people’s experience” on the platform, the social media giant said users who have enabled the feature will see the username of a follower who has liked the post, “and others”, instead of a number.
“What we heard from people and experts was that not seeing like counts was beneficial for some, and annoying to others, particularly because people use like counts to get a sense of what’s trending,” Instagram said in a blog post.
“So we’re giving you the choice. We’re looking for more ways to give people control over their experience.
“Starting today, we’re giving you the option to hide like counts on all posts in your feed. You’ll also have the option to hide like counts on your own posts, so others can’t see how many likes your posts get.
“This way, if you like, you can focus on the photos and videos being shared, instead of how many likes posts get.”
Users can go to “settings” on their updated app, enter the “new posts” section, and hit “hide like and view count”.
It is understood that those hiding the likes on their own photos will still be able to see who interacted with them.
“We’re also funding more external research about people’s experiences on Instagram, and how we can improve our policies and products to support our community. Changing the way people view like counts is a big shift,” it added.
“We’ll continue working on new ways to give people more choice, so they feel good about the time they spend on our apps.”
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