Instagram had been testing a new feature that will hide the number of likes that a post gets. Usually, the number of accounts that Instagram decides to test the new feature on is limited.
However, in a recent tweet, the social media platform agreed that it has accidentally hidden likes from some of its users on Tuesday. The sole responsibility for this mishap goes to a bug.
Before the tweet came to shed light on the problem, several users had already reported the issue after observing the change on their profiles on March 3rd.
Usually, the number of likes is displayed under posts, but for a limited amount, the number of likes was replaced with the phrase “and others.” Instagram had been running limited tests for this change since 2019.
The company had previously mentioned that it would remove the number of likes from a limited number of Canada accounts. Instagram failed to mention the timeline within which this feature will get rolled out globally.
However, it should be mentioned that while followers would not be able to see the total number of likes a post receives, the owner of the profile can certainly do that.
Users could click to see a full list of the accounts who liked the post, but they wouldn’t be able to see a number highlighting how many people liked it.
Instagram framed the move to help reduce the pressure that comes with the number of likes a post gets on the platform, in that it is generally believed the more likes a post gets, the more popular its owner.
