Instagram could be gearing up for a permanent change that would allow users to focus on content instead of the number of likes that each posts receives. The Facebook-owned social networking giant is testing a tool that hides the number of likes that each post receives and video views., making them only visible to the account holder.
“We’re currently running a test that hides the total number of likes and video views for some people,” the company announced on social media Wednesday (July 17). For now, Instagram is running the test in Australia, Canada, Brazil, Japan and three other countries.
“We want your friends to focus on the photos and videos you share, not how many likes they get. You can still see your own likes by tapping on the list of people who’ve liked it, but your friends will not be able to see how many likes your post has received,” the company explained in a series of tweets.
We’re currently running a test that hides the total number of likes and video views for some people in the following countries:
✅ Australia
✅ Brazil
✅ Canada
✅ Ireland
✅ Italy
✅ Japan
✅ New Zealand pic.twitter.com/2OdzpIUBka— Instagram (@instagram) July 17, 2019
We’re looking forward to learning more about how this change might benefit everyone’s experience on Instagram.
— Instagram (@instagram) July 17, 2019
Jan Wong, an app analyzer who scopes out hidden codes from your favorite apps, discovered that the company was toying around with the feature in April. “Instagram is testing hiding like count from audiences,” Wong tweeted at the time.
The change could make for a big adjustment for social influencers who seemingly depend on numbers to measure their engagement. The same goes for general users who could potentially feel less pressure to garner a certain number of likes for each post.