MENLO PARK, Calif. — Instagram and Facebook announced Wednesday that their users will have the option to hide the likes on their posts from the public, as well as hide likes on their feeds.
The changes come after Instagram tested hiding like counts to see if it could depressurize people’s experiences.
The feedback on that was mixed. Not seeing likes was beneficial for some and annoying to others, particularly those who use like counts to get a sense of what’s trending.
That’s why users are being given choices, according to a press release from Facebook, which owns Instagram.
The company says one point of hiding likes is so users can focus on the photos and videos being shared, instead of how many likes posts get.
You can hide like counts on others’ posts by visiting a new “posts” section in settings. That control applies to all the posts in your feed.
You can also choose to hide like counts before sharing a post. You can turn this setting on or off, even after it goes live.
The company says you will see both of these controls come to Facebook in the next few weeks.