Instagram hides ‘like’ counts in global test

On Thursday, Instagram officially announced the global rollout of a test which hides the number of likes and views on publications posted to Feed.

Over the past few months, Instagram has been testing the removal of like and view counts on publications in several countries including Canada, Australia and Japan among others. On Thursday, the company announced that this test is rolling out worldwide.

For those who are involved in the test, the total number of likes and views will be hidden on all posts except for their own.

The company describes the purpose of this change in a notification that pops up in the app, saying: “We want your followers to focus on what you share, not how many likes your posts get.”

Starting today, we’re expanding our test of private like counts globally. If you’re in the test, you’ll no longer see the total number of likes and views on photos and videos posted to Feed unless they’re your own. pic.twitter.com/DztSH0xiq2

— Instagram (@instagram) November 14, 2019

Instagram states that the feedback from users in the various countries where the change has already been tested has been positive, but since this is a massive change for the application and its social, business and creator cultures, testing before permanent implication is necessarily extensive.

As such statistics are important to creators and those who use Instagram as an advertising platform, Instagram has also stated that they are “actively thinking through ways for creators to communicate value to their partners”.

This change began rolling out this week to users across the world. The company did not indicate how long the test will last.

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