Instagram brought in the feature which enables users to hide their like count. It seems the social media world got too caught up in the number of likes on their pictures, rather than the meaning and messages behind them. Competition grew fierce and people even started judging others by their like count. Now, you can easily hide it from public view. Meaning no one will know just how many likes you have received.
Why is hiding your like count an option on Instagram?
Unfortunately the experience of all Instagram users isn’t always a pleasant one. Instagram have brought this feature in simply to protect its users. People spend far too much time focusing on likes rather than just enjoying posting to the app. Research into social media found that followers, likes and comments all amount to feelings of self-worth. Especially when it comes to teenagers who are arguably the most vulnerable age category online. It’s been proven that many people are discouraged from posting and have a lower feeling of self-worth if they don’t hit a certain number of likes.
The internet isn’t always kind. Bullies live everywhere within it. So, unfortunately sometimes we have to make choices to protect ourselves online. Of course, people should be kind, and then we wouldn’t need to change things to protect ourselves, but this isn’t always the case. It’s far more important to improve your mental health than it is to improve your like count. After all, likes don’t show who you really are as a person. So, if they’re going to be damaging then turn them off and pretend they don’t exist. This doesn’t mean you can’t have your photo liked, but no one will see how many people have done exactly that.
Will it affect Instagram’s algorithm?
To put it simply, no it won’t. Thankfully the algorithm sees everything. Even if you’re hiding your likes from the rest of the world, you’re still collecting them. Meaning, they’re being picked up on by Instagram and will display accordingly in your data. It makes no difference to Instagram whether your followers can see how many likes your post has gained or not, the likes are still there. They still exist. Instagram’s algorithm works by selecting what content appears first on stories, posts and even the explore page. The order accounts are shown in will partly be down to you and your interests.
The more you interact with an account, the more it will show things related to that account. If you’re constantly commenting and liking a certain brand or individual, you’ll see them first within your home page view. It doesn’t matter if their likes are hidden, if you’re interested in them and Instagram has picked up on that, they’ll be displayed first. So, you don’t need to worry that turning your like count off will affect your Instagram page in any way. You can still access all of your statistics and insights through your page information, if you’re using a business or creative account.
How to turn off Instagram’s like count
It’s really simple and can be done per post, so you don’t need to decide one way or the other. If you want to keep your like count on for some posts but not others, you can easily do this. First head to your Instagram page and click on the image you want to hide the likes for. Then click on the 3 dots in the corner. You will see an option appear within the list that says hide like count. Click on that and you’re good to go. Simply do this for each photo as you post it and no one will be able to see how many likes it has received. You can change this at any time if you later decide you want the likes to be visible.
When someone comes to your profile, if they follow a mutual follower of yours who happens to like your photo they will see that name along with others. For example, if PUSH had liked your Instagram post, but you had like count turned off, it would display as @fmpush and others liked this post. So, they’ll see their mutual connection’s name, and that’s it. Of course, if they have no mutual connections, they’ll likely see an account name of someone who has a public Instagram account being displayed. Either way, they get no insight into how many people have liked your content. It’s as easy as that. It might not sound like a big deal and thankfully to many people it isn’t. But to some, this feature is huge.
