You may remember when Instagram posts stopped showing the total number of likes. At first it was confusing and it took a bit of adjusting to. We were used to feeling the pressure around the number of likes on an Insta pic, knowing that everyone could see how much engagement we were getting, and therefore, how good the pic really was.
Since Instagram’s shift to hiding the number of likes back in 2019, the platform has become a bit of a freer place. For me personally, I find I didn’t stress as much about what I was going to post because I knew that no one but me will know the photo’s ‘success’.
Today, though, Instagram has announced that everyone globally, on Instagram and Facebook, will now have the option to hide or display their public like counts, so we can decide what works for us.
After testing the hiding of like counts in Australia and a few other countries, Instagram received feedback from users and experts. Some said the move was beneficial while others found it annoying, mostly because they use like counts to get a sense of what’s trending and popular. Instagram saw both sides of the coin as fair, so now, it’s giving us a choice.
“Today we are launching new options to hide like counts across our global community,” said Mia Garlick, Head of Policy, Facebook Australia and New Zealand.
“This is a step forward in giving people more control over their experience on Instagram and Facebook. We learned that hiding like counts is beneficial for some, but others enjoy seeing like counts to understand what’s popular or trending. It’s important that people feel good about the time they spend on our apps, and these new controls allow them to create a more personalised and positive experience.”
Instagram users have this choice as of today. You have the option to hide all posts on your feed, as well as to hide like counts on your own posts, so others can’t see your engagement. This way, you can continue to focus on the content rather than the likes, or you can go back to seeing like counts, which may benefit you depending on your work and interests.
How to hide my like count
You can hide like counts on others’ posts by visiting the new Posts section in Settings. This control applies to all the posts in your feed.
You can also choose to hide like counts before sharing a post. You can turn this setting on or off, even after it goes live. Just go to the three dots in the top right corner and click Hide Like Count.
In the next few weeks, you will see both of these controls come to Facebook.
Read more stories from The Latch and subscribe to our email newsletter.