Instagram is Testing Hidden Like Counts
By now it’s likely you’ve heard the big news: Instagram is testing hidden like counts.
The announcement from Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri at the WIRED25 Conference that like counts will begin to disappear from Instagram user interfaces in the US comes 6 months after the company initially announced that they would begin their test with Canadian accounts.
Influencers and brands alike are left wondering how this change will play out as the change slowly ripples across accounts in the US, but many are looking forward to the change.
Although likes won’t be publicly shared, influencers will still retain the power to share their personal data with potential brand partners, and will likely turn to third-party platforms which allow agencies and brands to easily search and locate influencers and view important metrics.
This new update comes along with a slew of interface updates such as removing the “following” page and shrinking the font size of follower counts on user’s profiles to downplay the focus. These changes are all a part of Instagram’s ongoing attempt to make the platform safer for individual users.
Social Supply Co’s Director of Social Media Brett Sirianni comments, “I don’t really think it’s going to affect brands much, but with the onus taken off what brands think other people think of them based on a vanity metric, they might be inclined to be more honest to their brand instead of chasing likes.”
Check out Social Supply’s take on disappearing likes in our latest IGTV episode:
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