Would we feel less envious and competitive if Instagram didn’t tell us how many Likes a post received? That’s the idea behind Instagram now hiding Like counts. Only the person who posted a photo will be able to see the number of likes it received. Instagram is not testing this at the moment but it will start doing this with users in Canada next week. It is not clear if Instagram plans to test this out in other places. But if it leads to more positive effects on the app, it wouldn’t be surprising to see an expansion of it.
Instagram critics have pointed to it as one aspect that contributes to the negative effects on mental health. Like counts can be a source of social pressure, particularly for younger users. hiding likes count could potentially make Instagram a little healthier.
