- Facebook is considering hiding the number of likes that posts receive on the News Feed
Facebook may start hiding the number of likes that posts receive on the News Feed. By doing this, it would prevent users from feeling envy and encourage them to actually post more. This could also prevent users from deleting posts if it does not get enough likes. TechCrunch confirmed that Facebook is testing this feature internally.
Instagram — the Facebook-owned photo social network — is also testing a similar feature in 7 countries including Canada and Brazil. The way Instagram is testing it is by showing a few names of mutual friends who liked a post rather than the total number.
An Instagram spokesperson pointed out that this changed was made because they “want your followers to focus on the photos and videos you share, not how many likes they get.”
Facebook will likely eventually test out this feature in select markets. And if it has a negative impact, then the project will be scrapped. I’m guessing that the testing of this feature on Instagram has been going well hence the decision to start testing the same feature on Facebook.
Jane Manchun Wong — a developer who has successfully uncovered a number of features being tested on social media platforms over the last couple of years — took a screenshot of what this feature looks like:
Facebook is working to hide like counts, too!https://t.co/WnUrM12aZg
Tip @Techmeme pic.twitter.com/TdT73wT6A0
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) September 2, 2019
A number of studies point out that receiving social media notifications such as likes sends a rush of dopamine to the brain. And this is what makes social media so addictive. To help reduce social media addiction, Twitter is also testing the hiding of the retweet and like counts. And a number of companies have introduced tools for limiting screen time.
