Instagram considering getting rid of 'likes' on platform
Facebook-owned Instagram is considering removing the "like" feature in an effort to alleviate users from some of the pressures associated with social media.
The online photo-sharing and social networking app is testing hiding the total number of likes on photos and videos in a move that echoes Twitter, which experimented with removing like and retweet counts by default.
“Later this week, we’re running a test in Canada that removes the total number of likes on photos and video views," Facebook said in a blog post on Tuesday ahead of the company’s F-8 developer conference. "We are testing this because we want your followers to focus on the photos and videos you share, not how many likes they get.”
Only the user who is posting the photo will be able to monitor the number of likes their photo and videos receives.
“Instagram has been talking about this for several months that this is part of their well-being initiative,” Fox News Headlines 24/7 reporter Brett Larson said on “Cavuto: Coast-to-Coast” Wednesday. “It’s part of another push in terms of they want to avoid bullying on these sites.”
There are 1 billion monthly active users on Instagram and more than 500 million of them use the platform daily, according to the social media management platform Hootsuite.
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Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion in 2012.
