Facebook is considering hiding the number of Likes a post gets. The possible feature removal was discovered by Jane Manchun Wong, who shared her discovery on Twitter. Alongside the tweet were a couple of screenshots showing what it would look like, at least on the Android app.
Rather than seeing the number of reactions a post gets, you see a couple of names of friends who reacted to a post. Where the number is supposed to be, all that is left is a vague “and others”. The previously complete breakdown also scrubs the number from the list of people who reacted. If you’re curious enough, you could still probably count them manually.
Facebook is working to hide like counts, too!https://t.co/WnUrM12aZg
Tip @Techmeme pic.twitter.com/TdT73wT6A0
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) September 2, 2019
The practice isn’t exactly new. The social media company is already testing something similar on Instagram in seven countries. That said, it’s important to note that on Instagram, the like count is hidden to everyone but the post’s author.
Right now, it’s still unclear as to what Facebook’s aim is with the removal of the Like counter. As for the way this will affect the way people use Facebook, we’ll have to wait until it actually becomes official to find out.
(Source: Jane Manchun Wong / Twitter via TechCrunch)
