Back in July, the folks at Instagram announced that — in an attempt to curb social pressure — they would be trialling a new system where the number of likes on a post would be hidden.
And while that trial is still in its early stages (it’s currently implemented in seven countries), it looks like Facebook might soon be following suit as well.
While the social networking site hasn’t made any official announcement, the potential feature was uncovered by data miner Jane Manchun Wong, who reversed-engineered Facebook’s Android app and posted the findings on her blog.
According to Wong, the feature will be similar to Instagram’s (there’s only so many ways a feature like this can work, after all) — the likes/reaction count of a post will be hidden from the public, though the creator of the post will still be able to access those numbers privately from their accounts.
At this point it’s pretty much impossible to confirm if hiding likes will become a full-fledged feature, but the fact that it’s being tested tested a second app suggests that Facebook is taking the consideration very seriously.
It takes time to develop, observe, research and release experimental features like this. Experimental features could come and go,” Wong said. “But I am certain hiding the public like counts will be beneficial to the digital wellbeing of a large chunk of users.”
Considering that studies have shown that social media can influence mental health and even lead to depression and anxiety, we’re inclined to agree.
Feature Image Credit: Vulcan Post
