Instagram is gradually moving to foster the clampdown on what is considered as social media pressure. The Facebook-owned photo-sharing app has announced it is expanding hidden likes globally after it tested the feature in select countries. Instagram will stop showing the number of likes received on a post in countries including India. However, it is a test-based feature that invites users before the wide rollout happens.
Began with initial tests in Canada in April, Instagram’s move to make ‘likes’ private has rolled out countries such as Ireland, Italy, Japan, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, and the US. Instagram is now handpicking a small sample of users in each country for expansion. Instagram is hiding likes on a post from people except for you who can still see the likes. Likewise, you will also not able to see the likes on others’ posts.
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Instagram says that this move is based on the sentiment that the social media platform should be a comfortable place for expression, an Instagram spokesperson told TechCrunch. Users should decide for themselves if a post is worth liking and not follow the herd. This is to say there is a good chance a user will tap twice on a post to send a like if there is a already good number of likes for the post. This is also supposed to diminish the hesitation users have when they post something, and that it will help them overcome the embarrassment for receiving underwhelming likes.
“While the feedback from early testing has been positive, this is a fundamental change to Instagram, so we’re continuing our test to learn more from our global community,” Vishal Shah, Vice President of Product, Instagram, said in a statement.
Recently, Instagram rolled out the much-awaited dark mode on its apps for iOS and Android. Facebook, meanwhile, is working on bringing the dark mode to its entire suite of apps, including WhatsApp. WhatsApp’s dark mode is supposedly in the final stages, as suggested by several screenshots that have leaked recently. Facebook is also developing dark mode for its marquee app.
