The social network has made public the tool that allows removing the reaction counter with the intention of improving the mental health of its users.
The like I spend into the background. Facebook and Instagram have announced that they will allow their 3,900 million added users to eliminate the counts of likes in their publications on both platforms, with which one of the pillars of social networks will be deactivated in the accounts that they wish and the counts of interactions on all posts in the users’ feed will be hidden.
“Changing the way people view accounts is a big change. What each person wants on Instagram is different, as people’s needs vary. We have been working closely with external experts to understand better how to empower people, develop self-awareness and shape a more positive experience on our platforms,” reads the statement released a few days ago by Facebook, Inc.
The official announcement has come so far, but the idea of hiding the reactions is nothing new. In fact, Facebook and Instagram have been testing this feature since early 2019, with select users experimenting with social media without the “like” counter. Now, two years later, the experiment has left the social labs and lands on both platforms and is available to everyone from businesses to individuals to influencers. “We’ve been testing hidden Instagram-like counts for a while. Now, we announce that all Instagram and Facebook users will have the option to hide their counts likes public, “the company said in a statement.
Step by step to hide the likes
Hiding like counts across all posts is straightforward. Both platforms also offer the ability to hide like counts on users’ own posts so that others cannot see how many reactions of this style their posts or those of others get. “In this way, if they wish, [the user] can focus on the photos and videos that are shared, instead of on the number of likes the publications receive,” they explain from Facebook. Here the step by step:
Hide Like Count From Instagram:
- Go to Settings (or Settings, in English)
- Press “Publications” (or Posts, in English). Write posts in the search bar if you can’t find this option.
- Select the option Hide Like Counts and Views (or Hide Like Counts, in English)
- Then, if you want to disable the account I like for your publications, see Publication (or New Post, in English)
- Go to Advanced Settings (or Advanced Settings, in English)
- Tap the Hide likes and views for this post option.
From Facebook:
- Go to Settings and Privacy (or Settings & Privacy, in English) of your account.
- Enter Settings (or Settings, in English)
- Go to reaction counts (or Reaction Counts in English) and enable or disable the option depending on what you want.
I like… your mental health
Suppose the culture of likes has only grown, strengthened, and generated benefits for individuals and companies that use social networks in the last decade. How beneficial will it be to deactivate one of the main tools of the networks? “What we heard from people and experts was that not seeing similar counts [the number of likes on a post] was beneficial for some and annoying for others, particularly as people use similar counts to get an idea of what it is. trend or popular”, they explain from Facebook in a statement and add that for that reason, the deactivation of the count of likes is voluntary and free.
But hiding likes is also related to vital issues like addiction and mental health. Multiple studies, such as the study Social Media Use and Its Impact on Relationships and Emotions published by Brigham Young University or Online Social Networking and Addiction published by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, have tried to show that people, in particular Younger generations – such as centennials and millennials – who use these apps are experiencing adverse mental health effects that are rooted in the “toxic ecosystem” of social media.
Facebook has taken the initiative, but according to sources in the environment, other social networks such as Twitter and TikTok could soon join the campaign to hide the reactions. However, there is still no official confirmation. Twitter, for example, has been experimenting with the way its users react to posts on the platform. A few days ago, a project developed by the company was leaked to include other options for reactions to tweets.