Recently reported by Tech Crunch. A new Instagram prototype design has been leaked that removes the amount of likes seen on a post.
“We want your followers to focus on what you share, not how many likes your posts get. During this test, only the person who share a post will see the total number of likes it gets.”
Instagram
“That is how Instagram describes a small design change test with massive potential impact on users’ well-being” – (techcrunch.com/2019/04/18/instagram-no-like-counter/, Tech Crunch, 2019). Hiding the Instagram like counts will reduce “herd mentality” where people are compelled to liking a post that already has excessive likes.
So, what does hiding Instagram like count mean for us artists and content curators?
- Artists and content curators will need to produce more meaningful and authentic content.
- We’ll have a more accurate count of followers who truly like your posts.
- It will reduce a sense of competition by comparing your posts to existing posts will excessive likes.
The design change test was first spotted by Jane Manchun Wong,
a prolific reverse engineering expert. Wong discovered the design change test in Android’s code as seen below.
Wong has also be implementable in finding other hidden design prototypes features such as chat thread stickers for Direct messages, augmented reality filters for Direct Video calls, karaoke-style lyrics that appear synced to soundtracks in Stories, emoji reactions to feed posts, and more.
However, this is currently an internal prototype. Whether this design change will be implemented or not has yet to be confirmed. There have been prior updates which have caused user outrage and were changed back to original designs based on user feedback. See a previous Instagram design changed that caused an uproar from it’s users by clicking here.
What do you think of the idea of removing the “like” feature? Comment below and let us know what you think!
