Instagram To Test Hiding Likes For U.S. Users Starting Next Week

Roommates, Instagram is serious about no longer allowing the public to view likes on your photos. So much so, IG CEO Adam Mosseri has announced the platform with test hiding your likes starting next week.

According to Wired, Instagram is trying to become the “safest place on the internet”. In order to do so, Adam Mosseri is attempting to do away with the idea that one’s worth is somehow tied to the amount of likes you get on a photo.

Some months back, Instagram tested citing likes in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Ireland, Italy, and Brazil. IG isn’t the only company that is attempting to remove publicly available engagement from their platform, though.

Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter have all experimented with removing engagement metrics as well. Social media researchers have argued that when users tailor their content to whatever gets the most engagement or outrage.

Instagram has been making a lot of changes as part of its mission to become the safest place on the internet. Recently, IG implemented algorithms and filters to remove offensive or divisive comments or pictures–a move the has come with push back from users.

The platform has also removed all selfie filters that mimic plastic surgery. The filters were reportedly removed in an effort to appear not to endorse the significant disconnect between your brain and your body image when you use filers that distort your facial features.

The decision is based on the quest to minimize the alarming increase in plastic surgery in young people. Doctors have diagnosed the condition that had been called “Snapchat Dysmorphia,” in which young patients wanted plastic surgery to look like the filtered versions of themselves.