In a leak discovered by reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong, Instagram might be bidding adieu to the like-counter.
Instagram is testing hiding like count from audiences,
as stated in the app: “We want your followers to focus on what you share, not how many likes your posts get” pic.twitter.com/MN7woHowVN
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) April 18, 2019
The prototype shows that audience members who view posts won’t be able to see how many likes a post gained.
“We want your followers to focus on what you share, not how many likes your posts get,” Instagram writes in an in-app message. “During this test, only the person who shares a post will see the total number of likes it gets.”
In an interview with Techcrunch, an Instagram spokesperson confirmed that the leak is a prototype from Instagram
“We’re not testing this at the moment, but exploring ways to reduce pressure on Instagram is something we’re always thinking about,” the spokesperson said.
Whether removing the like count from audiences’ eyes will “reduce pressure” remains to be seen. Not having to worry about your post being judged by its amount of likes, but for its content sounds good in theory. We’re up for anything that helps our mental health. If Instagram can prove that hiding like totals helps us feel better, we can only hope that Facebook and Twitter follow suit.
