The micro-blogging site X (formerly Twitter) is about to start hiding all likes on posts.
The change is currently being tested with a small group of users. Some users have reported that the “Likes” tab on profiles has disappeared, while others have noticed that the number of likes on posts is no longer visible.
X engineer Haofei Wang explained the rationale behind the change in a recent tweet:
“Public likes are incentivizing the wrong behavior. For example, many people feel discouraged from liking content that might be “edgy” in fear of retaliation from trolls, or to protect their public image. Soon you’ll be able to like without worrying who might see it. Also a reminder that the more posts you like, the better your For you algorithm will become.”
Yeah, we are making likes private.
— Haofei (@wanghaofei) May 22, 2024
Public likes are incentivizing the wrong behavior. For example, many people feel discouraged from liking content that might be "edgy" in fear of retaliation from trolls, or to protect their public image.
Soon you’ll be able to like without… https://t.co/vPGllc4pB0
If X does go ahead with this change, it will mean that you will no longer be able to see how many likes your posts get. You will also not be able to see how many likes other people’s posts get. This could change how you use X.
