In 2021, Instagram introduced a feature that allowed users to hide their likes and view counts on all feed posts. This allows readers to concentrate less on the content’s popularity and more on the content itself.
With this update, users can now choose to keep their post likes and view counts private. You have the option of hiding a post’s ‘like’ and view count either before you publish it or after.
If you are confused about how to proceed, here is a simple step-by-step guide to help you with the process and other details you’ll need.
How to Hide Instagram Likes
Let’s go over how to hide Instagram likes step by step.
How to Hide Instagram Like Count on Others’ Posts
You can easily hide likes on other people’s Instagram posts in your feed by going to your settings. This can help you avoid comparing your account to that of a competitor. As you scroll, it will also force you to look at more than just like counts.
To hide likes on other people’s Instagram posts, follow these steps:
- Step 1: Tap the hamburger menu on your profile, then Settings.
- Step 2: Select Privacy from the Settings menu.
- Step 3: Select Posts from the Privacy menu.
- Step 4: Enable the option Hide Like and View Counts.
How to Hide Like Count on Instagram Posts Before Publishing
Let’s look at how to hide your own Instagram post likes now. Unfortunately, there is no option to hide all your Instagram likes at once; you must do so for each post. However, you can make this change before or after publishing the post.
- Step 1: Begin by working on your next Instagram post as usual. Tap Advanced Settings when you get to the section where you can write your caption, tag products, or add a location.
- Step 2: To ensure that your post’s likes are hidden, click the toggle next to Hide like and view counts on this post. View counts for videos posted to your feed will also be hidden. This option, however, is not available for Reels.
- Step 3. You can also make additional changes before publishing in Advanced Settings, such as adding alt text to your Instagram post for those who use screen readers or turning off commenting.
How to Hide Like Count on Instagram Posts After They’ve Been Published
If you’ve already published your post and realized you forgot to hide the like count, don’t worry—you can turn it back on after you’ve shared it with your audience.
- Step 1: Go to the post you want to update and tap the three dots menu icon to access additional settings and preferences.
- Step 2. Then, select Hide like count to ensure that no one can see how many people liked your post.
- Step 3. Other options from this menu include turning off comments retroactively, pinning the post to the top of your profile, and more.
How to Unhide Instagram Likes
Don’t you want to hide likes and views any longer? If this is the case, unhiding is as simple as counting.
There is no need to search the Internet for related articles.
Follow the steps below to get the likes counter back.
- Step 1: Navigate to Your Account
- Navigate to your account and click the hamburger icon in the top right corner. Then, tap on the Setting icon in the top right corner of your Instagram account.
- Step 2: Go to Settings.
- To unhide likes on your account, go to Settings.
- Step 3: Enter Privacy
- Then, select Privacy by tapping on the corresponding button.
- Step 4: Select Posts.
- To hide Instagram likes, go to the Post section privacy settings.
- Step 5: Unhide Likes
- The last step in bringing the like countback is to deactivate the toggle.
Here Are 4 Steps To Hide Likes on Reels
- On your device, launch the Instagram app.
- Navigate to your profile and select the menu icon (three horizontal lines).
- Select “Settings,” then “Privacy,” and finally “Posts.”
- Toggle off the “Allow Others to See Likes” option in the “Reels” section.
Why Would You Want To Turn off Instagram Likes?
In a recent study, researchers asked 182 students between the ages of 13 and 18 to imagine a situation in which one of their Instagram posts received a lot of likes and another received very few likes. Participants who imagined receiving few likes had far more negative than positive feelings, especially those more susceptible to feedback.
Social media likes can indeed be detrimental to a user’s mental health. Whether we like it or not, social media affects our brains. As an influencer, keeping your followers from seeing the number of likes your posts have can help combat that comparison.
Nevertheless, even as a brand, turning off likes can have advantages.
To begin, the number of likes you receive is a vanity metric. When measuring the overall performance of your Instagram marketing efforts, this is of little importance. It’s become second nature to like as we scroll, so it doesn’t mean much more than that.
Instead, concentrate on Instagram metrics such as comments and shares. This demonstrates that your post was compelling enough for users to take action.
Why Is Instagram Allowing Users To Hide Likes?
Simply put, it’s for our good. According to a statement, Instagram began hiding like counts for specific countries to see if it would “depressurize people’s experience” on the platform.
According to research, we tend to equate our online success—followers, comments, and like counts—with our self-worth, particularly in adolescence. In 2020, a study of 513 Brazilian teenage girls found that 78% had tried to hide or change a part of their body they didn’t like before posting a photo. Another study discovered that 43% of teenagers with low social-emotional well-being deleted social media posts because they received too few likes. It’s also worth noting that 25% of teens admitted to being victims of cyberbullying in 2019.
The internet can be a hostile environment. Some people have built entire careers on Instagram, but whether you’re a mega-follower or a ghost who rarely posts, the seemingly innocuous like count may wreak havoc on your mental health.
After experimenting with hiding likes, Instagram concluded that the results were “beneficial for some and annoying to others.” So, in March 2021, parent company Meta announced a Miley Cyrus-worthy best-of-both-worlds solution: users can hide or unhide their likes.
Will Hiding Your Instagram Likes Affect the Performance of Your Posts?
Not really, according to Instagram. You can hide likes from yourself and other users, but the app will still track them and use them as a ranking signal for the algorithm.
In a nutshell, the algorithm determines which content appears first (on Stories, posts, and the Explore page). The individual chooses the order; it is determined by what you like, watch, and comment on.
So, regardless of whether you hide your likes or not, that one superfan who is always hyping up your brand in your comments will most likely always see your posts. And even if you hide his likes and don’t care how many likes he has, your Instagram crush’s extremely uncool but strangely mesmerizing cup-stacking videos will still appear in your feed.
Instagram says hiding likes may be “beneficial” or “annoying” for your social/emotional/mental health. If you’re obsessed with your like count and it’s affecting your ability to post content that feels genuine to you, try hiding likes for a week or two. Keep that toggle turned on if it improves your experience.
Like counts can be used in business as a form of social proof. People who come into contact with your brand for the first time on Instagram can immediately tell how big — or small — your business is based on your like counts. However, quality content, a consistent aesthetic, and thoughtful interactions with your community in comments matter far more than the number of likes your posts receive.
How to Track Instagram Likes (Even If They’re Hiding)
Instagram’s in-app analytics solution provides a snapshot of your account’s metrics, such as how many accounts you’ve reached, your audience’s demographics, how your follower count is growing — and how many likes your posts receive.
To access Instagram Insights, you must have a Business or Creator profile (free and simple to switch to: go to Settings, Account, and then Switch account type).
- Go to your Creator or Business profile’s Instagram profile and click the Insights button beneath your bio.
- Scroll down to the Content You Shared section, which displays the number of posts you’ve made in the last seven days. On the right, press the > arrow symbol.
Instagram will then display a gallery of posts that can be filtered to show specific metrics such as reach, comments, and likes.
You can also specify the type of posts to display (photos, videos, or carousel posts) and the time frame (the previous week, month, three months, six months, year, or two years).
Select Likes from the drop-down menu in the middle of your screen (it will default to showing Reach first).
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