How to Hide Likes on Instagram Photos
Instagram Just Rolled Out a New Feature That Allows Users to Hide "Likes" on Posts
Instagram officially rolled out a new feature that allows people to hide "likes" on their photos, after teasing the change for nearly two years. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri announced the photo-sharing app would experiment with this capability back in 2019, and after months of testing, the tool went live for all users for the first time on 26 May. This is an optional feature that Instagram hopes will depressurise the platform experience and reduce competition among its community.
People will be able to limit the "likes" they see on their feed, as well as the "like" count and video views from others. You can hide like counts on your feed by visiting the new Posts section in Settings. You can hide "likes" on your own photos before posting, or go back and turn them off after a post goes live. Much like the ability to hide comments, this tool can be used on a case-by-case basis.
Instagram Head of Global Policy Communications, Carolyn Merrell, confirmed this will not impact the algorithm and the way posts are prioritised in the feed. The team acknowledges many users still find "likes" helpful to identify what's popular and trending, but hope this flexibility allows peace of mind to those who prefer to solely focus on the content of photos and videos. In the next few weeks, these controls will also come to Facebook. Get a closer look at how to use the new feature, ahead.
