Instagram wants users to focus on the content posted, rather than the amount of likes it generates…

As Instagram continues its trials of hiding likes on posts, some UAE users have reported that they can no longer see how many likes they have received on a picture or video they’ve posted on the social media platform.

The new development is in line with Instagram’s new ‘private likes count’ policy, which is being rolled out across the globe.

For some UAE users, instead of initially being able to see the collective number of likes on any single post, it now says the name of one person that has liked it ‘and others’. You will then be able to click on your own post and see who has liked it, but still not how many – unless you count them.

The changes to Instagram aim to encourage users to focus on the quality of the content posted, rather than focusing on how many likes a post garners.

The trial has only come into effect for some Instagram users – others can see their posts and likes as normal.

Instagram first announced the new feature back in April 2019 and have since tested it in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan and New Zealand. On November 14, they announced via Twitter that they would be taking their test of private like counts into even more countries.

The post read “Starting today, we’re expanding our test of private like counts globally. If you’re in the test, you’ll no longer see the total number of likes and views on photos and videos posted to Feed unless they’re your own.'”

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Image: @instagram