After years of consultation has Facebook – which owns Instagram – finally made a decision. Users of both platforms will have the option to show or hide the ‘likes’ on their posts and those of others.
Announced last month Instagram and Facebook indicated that they would launch a pilot project where some users could hide the number of likes. Not a new idea, as both social networks have been working on similar projects for several years.
After these tests, the company found that some users were won over by this new feature, while others were far less. Yet bullet is finally through the church. Facebook and Instagram announced on Wednesday that all users will soon be able to hide likes on the platforms.
In practice, this means two additional options in the settings:
- You can hide the number of likes people see on your own posts.
- You can also hide the number of likes you see on other people’s posts.
However, influencers who are active on the platforms hold their hearts. Namely, they rely heavily on their popularity when negotiating paid partnerships.
‘The creators were very divided. Smaller creators were generally more concerned as they try to figure out what their audience is interested in. […] The already established influencers were more open to the idea because they have less of a need to prove their worth, ‘said Adam Mosseri, Instagram boss.
It must be said that the algorithms are not affected by this new feature. It is already available to many Instagram users and will also be available on Facebook in the coming weeks.
–
