Instagram is planning to introduce a feature in which the number of likes on a post will not be visible to the viewers. While this is still under consideration, Instagram has received a rather positive response from some countries it tested.
Social Media has become a huge part of everyone’s lives now and people do make judgements about people they do not know just on the basis of their socials. It is believed that Instagram took this step after the British Information Commissioner’s Office requested applications like Instagram and Snapchat to turn off their likes and streaks numbers that encourage users to keep posting. According to them it is way of protecting the privacy of young minds present on the app because they are naïve and in the race of likes may take some wrong steps.
While all of that is true in some sense, Instagram gave its own reasons as to why are they planning to hide the visibility of likes on a post. Instagram wants its users to like posts based on whether they really like it or not, instead of falling into the pressure of heart reacting to it just because it contains a bunch of likes. In the recent generation there is a stigma that small number of likes bring shame to you and you are considered unpopular, this feature will let users post content freely without the fear of the existing stigma. It wants its users to feel comfortable in expressing themselves through their content instead of worrying about the likes they will receive. Instagram wants to make their community a safe place for everyone.
This features’ testing began in Canada in June 2020, and was followed by a few different countries like New Zealand, Australia, Brazil etc. and now a small percentage of users from around the world are being tested. Through this test feature, as spotted by Alessandro Paluzzi, we learned that the likes of posts will not be visible to the viewer seeing somebody else’s’ post. Only the name of a mutual follower will be followed by the statement “and others liked it” while the user may be able to see who liked their photo by tapping on the likes, but only the names will be available the exact number will not be written for that you will have to count manually.
While Instagram thinks this is a beneficial feature for the entire community, some people think against it while others suggested that Instagram should give the user the hold as to on which posts they want their likes visible and on which posts they don’t. The feature however is still under process because Instagram wants to understand the community preference before it takes any big step like this. Let us know what you think about this!
Read next: Instagram's New Upgrade Tells Users If Someone's Using A Filter On Their Photos
Social Media has become a huge part of everyone’s lives now and people do make judgements about people they do not know just on the basis of their socials. It is believed that Instagram took this step after the British Information Commissioner’s Office requested applications like Instagram and Snapchat to turn off their likes and streaks numbers that encourage users to keep posting. According to them it is way of protecting the privacy of young minds present on the app because they are naïve and in the race of likes may take some wrong steps.
While all of that is true in some sense, Instagram gave its own reasons as to why are they planning to hide the visibility of likes on a post. Instagram wants its users to like posts based on whether they really like it or not, instead of falling into the pressure of heart reacting to it just because it contains a bunch of likes. In the recent generation there is a stigma that small number of likes bring shame to you and you are considered unpopular, this feature will let users post content freely without the fear of the existing stigma. It wants its users to feel comfortable in expressing themselves through their content instead of worrying about the likes they will receive. Instagram wants to make their community a safe place for everyone.
This features’ testing began in Canada in June 2020, and was followed by a few different countries like New Zealand, Australia, Brazil etc. and now a small percentage of users from around the world are being tested. Through this test feature, as spotted by Alessandro Paluzzi, we learned that the likes of posts will not be visible to the viewer seeing somebody else’s’ post. Only the name of a mutual follower will be followed by the statement “and others liked it” while the user may be able to see who liked their photo by tapping on the likes, but only the names will be available the exact number will not be written for that you will have to count manually.
While Instagram thinks this is a beneficial feature for the entire community, some people think against it while others suggested that Instagram should give the user the hold as to on which posts they want their likes visible and on which posts they don’t. The feature however is still under process because Instagram wants to understand the community preference before it takes any big step like this. Let us know what you think about this!
Read next: Instagram's New Upgrade Tells Users If Someone's Using A Filter On Their Photos
