Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world that is home to millions of users. Not only that, but it is also an excellent space for companies looking forward to marketing their businesses effectively. The platform allows users to share pictures and videos to capture the attention of their audiences. Instagram has many features as well. Stories are short videos that remain visible for 24 hours and then disappear. Apart from this, the Reels feature is also quite popular. All of these features are very helpful for companies trying to share their marketing message with larger audiences for higher ROI and better market positioning.

Many users on Instagram want more accessibility features and options. In order to enhance offerings for them, Instagram has recently allowed users to hide likes on posts. They also want to remove the pressure of getting more likes that some users face. The goal is to reduce the pressure of social anxiety from most users. You can visit here to find out how you can get affordable internet packages to search more out of Instagram and its features. This blog is about how you can hide like counts on Instagram. Read on below to find out in detail.

Why is The Platform Allowing Users to Hide Likes?

Instagram has tested the impact of hiding likes in many countries for the past few years. The top leadership wanted to fully see the impact of taking such a step. For instance, the platform allowed the removal of likes for certain users in the US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Japan, and New Zealand during 2019. Adam Mosseri, the CEO of Instagram, shares that this is just an initiative to make Instagram a safer place on the internet.

Even though the intention behind this trial was to make Instagram a safer and more welcoming place for everyone, many people were not in favor. Many users were of the view that likes allow them to see which posts are popular and trending. Many creators and influencers rightly pointed out that likes and comments such metrics show the influencer engagement rate as well. This allows influencers to get more work as brands approach them for marketing and advertising purposes. Therefore, this debate became quite heated back in 2019.

Despite this conversation, Instagram has finally allowed users to hide likes on the posts of other people. Not only that, but they can also disable the “like” feature on their personal posts. On the contrary, they can choose not to do this and continue using Instagram as they normally do. The primary reason to do this is to provide users more freedom when they use Instagram. Instagram’s CEO also shared that such a feature may become available on Facebook soon as well. Exciting, right?

How Does This Work?

Hiding likes is quite a simple process. However, do note that the likes do not completely disappear when a user hides likes on their account. All the posts that you view after enabling this feature will not show you any likes. However, you can view who has liked the post simply by tapping. When you scroll through Instagram, you’ll only see who has liked the videos or photos if you tap on them. The count, however, will not be visible. You will need to add all the users up to do so.

Can a User See Likes On Their Own Posts?

Yes, you can see the likes on your posts even if your followers have disabled the option of viewing likes. However, you can make the likes count disappear on your posts as well. So be careful when you consider this option.

How Can You Hide Likes on Instagram?

It is very easy to hide likes on Instagram. You can disable or enable this feature by simply visiting the “Settings” section. Once you access your account settings, simply select if you would like to see like on other users’ posts or not. If you want to hide the likes count on a particular post, simply tap the three-dot icon present on the top of a post. Do note that users using data analytics tools can still see the number of likes on any post.

What is the Impact of This Decision on Influencers and Brands?

Following this decision, influencers and brands have a lot to think about. They want to know how this decision will impact them and their business in both the short and the long term. The concern makes sense. Even in 2019, when Instagram was partially testing this feature, many users experienced a drop in the number of likes they got. This meant a drop in user engagement as well. The primary reason for this to happen was that users generally do not tend to like posts with fewer likes. And if the likes are not visible, they tend to treat posts as ordinary ones instead of trending ones. This can have a very negative impact on influencers and brands alike. This also affects businesses in a similar fashion.

However, despite these many issues, companies can use tools to view their metrics. Automated reports can provide them direct insights into how well their posts are doing. Still, the negative impact on overall engagement will stand true. The good news is that users can select the brands they do not want to see the likes of. So, chances are that you may only have a few followers making such a decision. However, if most of the followers take this decision, then brands will suffer.

What do you think about this new feature? Do you like it? Different opinions exist on the matter. Let us hope that the impact of this new step from Instagram will have positive results for users and influencers alike.