Success of Hidden Facebook Likes in Limbo
They say it will alleviate negative social pressure
If others have tons of Likes, you feel jealous. If your post doesn’t get enough Likes you feel humiliated. What’s more, when you simply pursue Likes, you waste time thinking about how to grow them. And you hide the Likes for fear of not being popular. That’s why Facebook Likes count will be officially hidden on posts in Australia starting today, September 27th.
Australians scrolling Facebook today will find something missing: the number of times the Facebook Likes button has been tapped on a post. Posters have access to the count, but it’s hidden from everyone else who will only be able to see who but now how many people gave the thumbs-up or other reaction.
An initial statement from a Facebook spokesperson told that it will be similar for Facebook – pages will still be able to see all of their engagement metrics, but they won’t be public.
Similar to the hidden Instagram Likes back in July, Facebook will now privatise the Facebook likes, reactions and views you get on your posts. When Instagram removed likes, it stressed that tools such as Insights, Ad Manager and the Paid Partnerships wouldn’t change. The latter would also allow a brand to see the engagement on a partnered post.
It’s a significant shakeup for the social media giant, which made the “thumbs up” button a globally recognised symbol of online approval and popularity on Facebook Likes.
Facebook’s goal here is to make people comfortable expressing themselves. It wants users to focus on the quality of what they share and how it connects them with people they care about, not just the number of people who hit the thumbs-up.
Without a big number of friends’ posts that could make users feel insignificant, or a low number on their own posts announcing their poor reception, users might feel more carefree on Facebook. The removal could also reduce herd mentality, encouraging users to decide for themselves if they enjoyed a post rather than just blindly clicking to concur with everyone else.
If the Facebook Likes hiding works and eventually becomes a standard, it could help Facebook get back to the off-the-cuff sharing that made it a hit long ago.
