End of an era: The social network has confirmed that soon the likes count will disappear from the platform - if you just decide that this is what you want • This is how it is expected to work
Photo: Yinon Ben-Shoshan
The most dramatic change right here:
The social network announced tonight (Wednesday) that it is exploring a new option, where users can choose whether to display the likes counter as it is today on Facebook and Instagram, or hide it in other people's posts and their personal posts.
Last year, Instagram tried to test whether hiding the likes count in posts helps reduce the sense of pressure that can accompany advertising on the platform - and did not introduce the "likes" counter among a small group of people.
With the outbreak of the Corona crisis, the company decided to prioritize other projects, which would support the needs of the community of users of the platforms.
Now, the social network has returned to the subject and said that the innovation is based on feedback received from users who have explored the new option - while some people testified that hiding the likes did relieve the feeling of pressure, others said the eight likes allowed them to follow trends and understand what was popular.
This option will be tested on both Facebook and Instagram first among a small group of people from around the world, with the company updating on findings that will come up and expanding it to more users.
