Instagram will test hiding "likes" on the platform next week, according to the company's CEO, making the metric only available to the person who made the post. While still in this testing phase, "likes" will only disappear on a number of users, not the entire platform.

Speaking at the Wired25 event last Friday, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said that the initiative was to "de-pressurize" Instagram for young people. The company has already tested the feature in several countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada and more.

"It's about young people," Mosseri said. "The idea is to try and de-pressurize Instagram, make it less of a competition, give people more space to focus on connecting with the people they love, things that inspire them."

Hiding these like counts, Mosseri says, is the first step in putting younger users' interests first.

"It means we’re going to put a 15-year-old kid’s interests before a public speaker’s interest," he said. "When we look at the world of public content, we’re going to put people in that world before organizations and corporations."

This will be Instagram's first test in the United States. It has already conducted trials in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, and New Zealand.

Following the event, Mosseri made an announcement about the test on Twitter.

However, not everyone is excited about the proposal. Rapper Nicki Minaj took Twitter last week to criticize the trial.

Minaj went on to say that she believed that the change would hurt independent artists and influencers.

Fellow rapper Cardi B, on the other hand, focused on the ability for users to like comments on the platform.

Regardless of how far-reaching the test goes, making likes private is sure to elicit impassioned responses both for and against the feature. While some support the measure, others believe it will not fundamentally change the platform.


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