Instagram starts global test for hiding likes

Instagram has started a global test to hide the likes. The social network has announced that. In the test, users only see likes from their own photos, but not from other users.

Only people in the test don’t see likes, says Instagram. It is unknown how many users are in the test. Instagram has been testing the hiding of likes in seven countries for a few months and is now expanding the test.

For example, thanks to a hide function, users no longer have to worry about the number of likes, or whether they are performing better or worse than their friends, according to the social network. The feature could also motivate users to post more authentic stuff, rather than posting posts solely for likes. In addition, users would then have no reason to delete posts that get few likes, because others can no longer see how many likes the post has.

Instagram says it recognizes that this is a big change, especially for people who make money from their posts. That’s why the subsidiary claims it’s thinking about ways that professional users can “communicate their value to partner companies.” Not only Instagram is thinking about hiding likes, parent company Facebook is also working on it.