In April Instagram launched an experiment and started hiding like counts for some of its users in Canada to examine if the move could be beneficial from a user experience point of view. There has been no word on the results but it looks as though the results have been promising as Instagram is now expanding the trial, hiding likes and video views for select users in Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Japan and New Zealand, in addition to those in Canada.
We’re currently running a test that hides the total number of likes and video views for some people in the following countries:
pic. twitter. com/2OdzpIUBka
— Instagram (@instagram) July 17, 2019
If you've been selected for the trial, you will see a notification which reads ‘We want your followers to focus on what you share, not how many likes your posts get. ’ The company made a similar statement in an additional tweet:
We want your friends to focus on the photos and videos you share, not how many likes they get. You can still see your own likes by tapping on the list of people who've liked it, but your friends will not be able to see how many likes your post has received.
— Instagram (@instagram) July 17, 2019
Like the affected users in Canada, the new testers will still be able to see the like-count on their own images. However, their followers won't. Let's see if Instagram decides the implement the modification platform-wide after this expanded trial.
. dpreview.com2019-7-18 17:44
