Do you Like this?
For the last 10 years at least, the Like button has been pretty much synonymous with Facebook.
Now, the social media giant is rolling out a trial of hiding the number of Likes beneath posts, starting tomorrow (27 September) in Australia.
The number of Likes will still be visible to whomever owns the account, but will be private to Facebook users at large. The trial will also include video views.
Ostensibly, the move comes as part of Facebook’s attempts to reduce the social pressure that it puts on people, especially in terms of users whose self-worth is affected by the poor performance of their posts on social media.
If the tests are successful, it’s expected that the trial will be expanded and then rolled out to the entire user-base.
“We are running a limited test where like, reaction, and video view counts are made private across Facebook,” a Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch. “We will gather feedback to understand whether this change will improve people’s experiences.”
A similar trial was conducted on the Facebook-owned photo app Instagram this year, and the policy was finally introduced for all accounts.
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