Social media apps like Instagram can often feel very stressful. For many people, some of that stress stems from worrying about how many likes a post receives. To ensure everyone can enjoy the app however works best for them, Instagram has features that allow users to hide these like counts from showing up.
As beneficial as social media can be for reconnecting with old friends and chatting with far-away family members, it can be equally devastating for some people's mental health. There's a constant push to always share something, engage with other posts, and ensure that someone's own content is getting enough likes/comments. It's easy to place a lot of value in high like counts whenever sharing a new post, and if something ends up bombing with hardly any likes, that can be difficult for some users to deal with. Similarly, it can be just as disheartening to see other posts on the Instagram feed that get hundreds (if not thousands) of likes.
Thankfully, there is a way to try and break this habit. Instagram offers the option to hide like counts on posts — including the option to hide likes from someone's own posts and ones from other users. To hide likes on posts from other users, open the Instagram app and tap the profile icon on the bottom navigation bar. Tap the three lines in the upper-right corner, tap, 'Settings,' tap 'Privacy,' tap 'Posts,' and then tab the toggle next to 'Hide Like and View Counts.' To prevent people from seeing how many likes someone's own post receives, there are a couple of ways to do this. When creating a new post on Instagram, tap the 'Advanced Settings' option at the bottom of the screen and then tap the toggle next to 'Hide Like and View Counts on This Post.' The person posting will still see the total likes and views something gets, but that data is hidden from everyone else. Alternatively, users can tap on a post they've already shared, tap the three dots in the upper-right corner, and tap 'Hide Like Count.'
Why Hiding Instagram Likes Is A Good Idea
Hiding like counts can be a great way to have a better relationship with social media. So many users put a lot of pressure on themselves to keep getting more and more likes, especially if they're seeing other posts that are continually doing better than their own. Some people can brush this off without a hitch, but for others, that's easier said than done. By hiding like counts from other posts and someone's own, it keeps that stress out of sight and out of mind.
On top of that, hiding likes is also a nice way to simplify the whole Instagram experience — even for someone that's generally not bothered by like counts. Keeping likes off posts is one less distraction to get in the way and allows the content of the post itself to be the main focal point. Whatever someone's reasons are for hiding likes, the above steps allow them to disappear with just a few taps.
Source: Instagram