Facebook, Instagram will now let users hide ‘like’ counts on posts

If you post a photo to social media and you don’t know how many people liked it, did you really post it?

Instagram and Facebook users can now find out. Beginning Wednesday, those on both services will be able to hide the numbers that show how many people liked their posts and photos.

Instagram began hiding likes in 2019 as part of an effort to make people’s time on the app less stressful and depressing. While many users welcomed the feature, others, including some influencers, worried it might take away from the social media experience. At the time, the platform didn’t give users a choice to hide or unhide the like counts, which didn’t sit well with some users.