Facebook is enabling users to hide their public like counts for posts on Instagram and Facebook.

“We’re announcing that everyone on Instagram and Facebook will now have the option to hide their public like counts, so they can decide what works for them,” Facebook said in a blog post.

The platform has been experimenting with hiding like counts for a while. Instagram had begun experimenting with private like counts in 2019. The platform had begun the experiment with hiding like counts to help users by reducing the anxiety and embarrassment related to posting content on the platform, especially young creators.

However, during the test, many agreed that disabling the like count all together could be harmful to creators who rely on engagement metrics to partner with brands and advertisers. Hence, the platform is now giving users the choice.

“We tested hiding like counts to see if it might depressurize people’s experience on Instagram. What we heard from people and experts was that not seeing like counts was beneficial for some and annoying to others, particularly because people use like counts to get a sense of what’s trending or popular, so we’re giving you the choice,” Facebook said.

Users will have the option to hide like counts on all the posts in their feed. They will also have the option to hide like counts on their own posts, so others can’t see how many likes their posts get. Users can choose to hide the like counts before sharing the post.

They can hide like counts on others’ posts by visiting the new Posts section in Settings. This control applies to all the posts in their feed.

They can turn this setting on or off, even after it goes live.

“People want more flexibility, so we thought it would be important to give people the option. In the next few weeks you will see both of these controls come to Facebook,” it said.

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