Instagram, out of nowhere, surprised users with its unintentional “hidden
post like counts” test recently. The social company has been testing this
update for some time now and seems to have accidentally expanded the test to more users. Since Instagram couldn’t collect the desired amount of data to officially release
the update, it is still in its testing phase.
We've been testing a new experience to hide likes on Feed posts. We unintentionally added more people to the test today, which was a bug — we’re fixing this issue and restoring like counts to those people as soon as possible.
— Instagram Comms (@InstagramComms) March 3, 2021
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri explained the ongoing “hidden likes” test, saying that the test is a part of the broader experiment and has been re-prioritized after disruptions due to the pandemic. “What we're looking is, is there a way for us to bring private like counts to those who are interested in it and not those who aren't, so expect more from us on that in the next month or maybe two," said Mosseri.
We've been testing a new experience to hide likes on Feed posts. We unintentionally added more people to the test today, which was a bug — we’re fixing this issue and restoring like counts to those people as soon as possible.
— Instagram Comms (@InstagramComms) March 3, 2021
The new “hidden likes” option was spotted earlier in January
too, within Instagram's back-end code by app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi,
that would apparently allow users to hide or unhide like counts on the posts they share. Therefore,
instead of completely removing the ability to view like counts, it looks like
Instagram may give its users the choice to control this option. It was also
observed that users would be able to hide like counts both while composing their
post, as well as in retrospect.
Bringing about a change like this in the Instagram app is a
major one, as like counts serve as social currency for most users. For brands, businesses,
and content creators especially, like counts are an indicator of performance,
so removing them will have some sort of an influence. However, Instagram is
clearly working on this update for a good reason, to ultimately benefit its user
community.
