Instagram to start hiding number of likes on posts

Facebook-owned Instagram is going to test hiding “like” counts this week as a way to make “a less pressurized environment” on the app, Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri announced on Tuesday.

“We want people to worry a little bit less about how many likes they’re getting on Instagram and spend a bit more time connecting with the people that they care about,” Mosseri said during the keynote of F8, Facebook’s annual software developer conference in San Jose, California.

“Under the test, the number of people who liked a post will no longer be shown. Users will be able to look at who liked their own post, but they won’t be able to see how many likes someone else’s post got unless they manually count them. A post’s creator will be able to see their own like counts if they choose to do so,” Mosseri said.

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“We don’t want Instagram to feel like a competition,” he said.

The hidden like count test announcement comes as Instagram expands its efforts to combat online bullying, a problem that plagues many of the app’s younger users. Mosseri also spoke about other efforts the service is considering to combat bullying, such a feature that would nudge users if they are about to post an aggressive comment.

“What we aspire to do is lead the fight against online bullying,” Mosseri said.

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