Instagram Likes: Now You See Them, Now You Don’t!

Instagram is currently testing out hiding the number of “likes” on posts in several countries, in a bid to “remove pressure” on users.

The social media platform – which is owned by Facebook – started experimenting with the idea in May, and Canada was first in line.

The design no longer showed the number of “likes” on a post, but instead allowed the person who made the post to see a list of people who had “liked” it.

The company has yet to divulge the results of the tests, but went ahead and expanded testing yesterday, 17 July, in Australia, Italy, Japan, Brazil, New Zealand and Ireland.

Mia Garlick, director of policy for Facebook Australia and New Zealand, said: “We hope this test will remove the pressure of how many likes a post will receive, so you can focus on sharing the things you love.”

The hope is that the feature will make a dent in the fight against cyberbullying and other anti-social behaviour.

It will be decided at a later stage after testing if the update will become permanent or not.