Technology
Facebook will HIDE likes after Instagram updated to ‘improve mental health’
FACEBOOK will soon follow Instagram’s lead and hide likes on the app.
The optional feature is designed to boost mental health, and help people spend less time panicking about their “like counts”.
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Instagram now lets you hide likes on posts[/caption]
The feature rolled out for Instagram users yesterday.
And it will arrive on Facebook in a matter of weeks.
The change is totally optional, so you can keep likes if you want.
But people who are sick of the stresses of likes can wave goodbye to them forever.
“Everyone on Instagram and Facebook will now have the option to hide their public like counts,” said Instagram.
“So they can decide what works for them.
You can hide like and view counts across the board[/caption]
“We tested hiding like counts to see if it might depressurise people’s experience on Instagram.
“What we heard from people and experts was that not seeing like counts was beneficial for some, and annoying to others.
“Particularly because people use like counts to get a sense for what’s trending or popular, so we’re giving you the choice.”
From today, you’ll be able to hide like counts on all posts in your feed.
You’ll also have the option to hide like counts on your own posts.
This means other people can’t see how many likes your posts get.
You can also hide like counts on specific photos[/caption]
The idea is that you focus on photos and videos being shared, and not how many likes they’re getting.
To do this, you’ll need to go to the new Posts section in Settings.
This will control all of the posts in your feed.
However, you can also choose to hide like counts before sharing a post.
You can change your mind even after the post goes live.
The feature is available on Instagram right now, but it’l come to Facebook “in the next few weeks” too.
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