Remember that report we posted sometime April about Instagram testing hiding like counts on posts? Well, they’ve been busy and have since expanded the trial to several new countries.
The testing began last May in Canada with the goal of reducing the pressures of getting likes on posts. According to CNN, Instagram has since expanded testing to new countries, including Ireland, Italy, Japan, Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand.
We are testing this because we want your followers to focus on the photos and videos you share, not how many likes they get.
Instagram
Instagram removed the total number of likes (or hearts) of photos and videos on the social media platform from view, hidden from the main feed, profiles, or permalink pages.
I don’t know how much of this is still experimental, but expanding trials to more countries could mean that initial tests had positive responses from users. This could also mean that it could eventually become a mainstream feature.
Also Read: Instagram contemplates hiding Like counts
Instagram has also made moves to address bullying on the platform, adding anti-bullying tools that uses AI to flag offensive comments and notifying users before it’s posted.
A new “Restrict” mode is being added that allows users to hide unwanted comments on posts from public view. Similar to the unfollow feature on Facebook, restricted users won’t be able to see if a person is active on the platform or if direct messages has been read.
Source: CNN
