NEW DELHI: Instagram on Monday conducted a small global test in which its users will get an option to hide their like counts and also the like counts of other users. This news was confirmed by Facebook Inc.
This photo-sharing app is owned by social media giant Facebook Inc. This latest test came after seeing the mixed responses after Instagram conducted its experiments in which it removed likes which is commonly used as a measure of popularity.
According to the spokesperson of Facebook, in 2019 they started experimenting by hiding like counts for a small group of people to try and understand whether it reduces the pressure of the user before posting on this photo-sharing app.
The Facebook spokesperson added that some people found this move beneficial whereas others wanted to see the like counts in order to keep in pace with what is popular. Read more
According to the spokesperson, Facebook is also exploring a similar episode which the users will get to see in the coming weeks after they wanted to explore more options over how they interact with content on the platform.
Australia had reportedly tested hiding other people's like counts to see how the people reacted to the change.
Last month, Instagram conducted a small test in which it "accidentally" hid the like counts for a large group of people resulting in receiving strong reactions from the users. While some applauded this move as a crucial step towards the mental health of the users, others saw it as a crippling move for content creators partnering with brands. Read more
The users will still be able to see their like counts privately. The test will include only a tiny fraction of the global population but the company declined to say how many.
According to the latest official data, Instagram has 1 billion monthly active users globally. The country with the highest number of monthly Instagram users is the United States at 130 million, followed by India at 100 million and Brazil at 91 million.
It is amusing to note that Instagram's monthly user base is the same as the total population of Europe and North America combined.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the most followed individual in the world with over 276 million followers, followed by Ariana Grande with over 231 million followers.
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