Hidden Likes Count on Instagram – What Might Happen
There’s no doubt that envy and competition on social media is an issue. Feeling inadequate, unpopular and unliked is sadly something that is very common, especially on Instagram.
That’s precisely why the hidden likes count on Instagram is being tested.
What Does The Hidden Likes Count Mean?
In short, yes it’s exactly how it sounds. The number of likes that an Instagram post gets could be hidden in the future. Instead of showing the number of likes, it will look like this;
Take a look at the bottom of the second picture. You’ll notice the number of likes has been replaced with the phrase ‘and others’.
This test feature was found by Jane Manchun Wong, and was accompanied by a pop-up message/notification from LinkedIn like you can see in the above image which states;
‘We want your followers to focus on what you share, not how many likes your posts get. During this test, only the person who shared a post will see the total number of likes it gets‘.
As the statement mentions above, users themselves can view the number of likes, using a ‘view likes’ button of which shows each individual user who has liked it.
Why Might The Hidden Likes Count on Instagram Be Introduced?
Hiding the number of likes on a post stemmed from Instagram’s want to not only stop bullying on their platform but lead the entire internet’s battle against it. The idea around this is to stop the sense of competition and envy between users that is currently on Instagram. Think about it this way, people will stop wanting to delete their posts if they don’t get ‘enough’ likes.
Personally, I think this is a pretty great idea.
When Will This Be Rolled Out?
At the moment, the hidden likes count on Instagram has only been tested out in Canada. This is due to Canada being known as a very social and techy area, as 24 million Canadians use social platforms each month. Wow.
We aren’t sure yet whether this test is going to be rolled out globally, as it’s still in very early stages of development and release. But, we like it!
