Instagram announced in May that “Likes” would be hidden from other users. This was first rolled out in Canada and has since expanded to several more countries, including Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Japan, and New Zealand.
Recently, hidden likes have been brought to the US and are currently being tried on test groups. It hasn’t been announced how big the test groups are in the US, nor how many users will be affected. However, in Canada hidden likes has been rolled out to nearly all Canadian users over the course of three months.
Users will still be able to see how many likes they have received. But, crucially, followers will not. Followers can still see who has liked the post and, if they so wish, add up the number of likes themselves.
Adam Mosseri, CEO of Instagram, stated that hidden likes are part of their mission to become the “safest place on the internet”. It is certainly positive that Instagram is taking steps to prevent harm and protect mental health— there is a known correlation with social media affecting users’ mental health and by hiding likes Instagram could prevent competition, superiority and bullying.
It is notable that Facebook, which owns Instagram, after increasing criticism regarding user privacy, is making this change to Instagram but not Facebook itself. It could be that Facebook is trying to create distance between their products to retain Instagram’s better standing in the public eye.
Hiding likes could make it difficult for brands and companies to work with Instagram as soon there will be no way of easily evaluating engagement rates through the likes on a post. This may have a positive impact on Influencer Marketing Platforms, which normally have access to influencers’ Instagram analytics and can share that with brands looking to find creators to partner with. Nevertheless, brands are moving away from solely focusing on engagement rates and therefore hidden likes may not make a difference. Ryan Detert, CEO of influencer marketing company Influential, stated that most clients have abandoned the idea of engagement rates and are focusing on in-store or online sales.
Hiding likes may help improve the mental health of users and reduce negativity online. Nevertheless, not a lot has yet been disclosed in regards to how many users will be impacted and when this change will hit the UK.