INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Instagram is hiding Like counts to make people feel better
But what if you’re curious, competitive or just petty? Now you can re-embrace the popularity contest by installing the Socialinsider
Chrome extension that reveals Instagram Like and comment counts
“The Return of the Likes” extension overlays the numbers of Likes and comments on the top-right corner of posts on Instagram’s website
If you don’t want Instagram’s overprotective helicopter parenting, now you can download the extension here to put an end to
it.Obviously, it’s not as useful as showing Like counts right in the Instagram mobile app
You probably aren’t going to switch to browsing Insta just on the web, but if you see a post you want to know the Like count of, you can
easily send yourself the permalink and open it on a computer.Instagram is currently testing hiding Like counts with a percentage of users in
It started the experiment in Canada in April before adding six more countries in July and then the U.S
Facebook launched a similar hidden likes experiment in Australia in September.TechCrunch tested Return of the Likes and verified that it
It comes from social media analytics company Socialinsider, which offers software for measuring engagement and benchmarking performance
The company insists that “No data is sent to Socialinsider servers.” We asked Instagram if the Chrome extension was in compliance with
the app’s rules, and will update if we hear back.As social media evolves, the emerging trend is for platforms to step in to protect users
In many cases, it’s warranted
Like counts can hurt people’s well-being by leading them into envy spirals comparing themselves against peers, or coercing them to
self-censor to avoid an embarrassingly low Like count
Still, the question remains whether users deserve control over their own experience
Should we be able to opt back in to seeing Like counts, the way we have controls over block lists of offensive words?After the platforms
step up to ensure safety, we’ll have to decide when we want to step in and demand to see what’s been covered up.Additional reporting by
