It’s official – likes are being hidden on Canadian Instagram accounts. A number of users saw the number of likes and video views hidden from their feeds and profiles last week. So, what do you need to know?
Currently, like counts are only being hidden on select Canadian profiles. It’s not clear yet if Instagram will begin to test this new feature in other countries.
If you’re worried about the number of likes your post receives, users can still click to see the number of likes on a post. However, unless you’re the account owner, you won’t be able to see the number of likes or total views it receives without manually counting them.
Instagram announced this change as a way to get followers to focus on the images and videos, rather than the number of likes they are receiving on their content, which they hope results in less competition among users.
Removing the like count may affect the way influencers are discovered and hired for paid promotions and branded content. This could be including their engagement rates in media kits or providing proof of how engaging posts were during active campaigns.
Like totals will still factor into how the algorithm ranks the post in each user’s feed. Highly engaging posts will still be featured first on feeds – this takes into account the number of likes, comments, shares and saves the post received.
This is only one of the many features being tested by the social platform. Other examples include shoppable influencer posts, new story camera options, and donation stickers
We’re excited to see how this will affect engagement on the platform, and if it will change the way users interact on Instagram. Stay tuned!
