The new Facebook feature hides like counts to fight spite

Facebook is adding a new feature which hides like counts on posts.According to Techcrunch, the hide like counts feature will be rolled out first in Australia today September 27th 2019.

It is no doubt many people get jealous when their own posts on Facebook get very little or no likes while that of their friends get tones of likes. As a result, to make things better, Facebook is adding a new feature which hides like counts on posts.

Earlier this year, the hide like counts was tested on Instagram in Canada. This feature was extended to other counties and it turned out to be loved by many Instagram users. So, why not test it on Facebook as well? The Facebook team thought! This new feature could be the key to fighting spite among users and make happier using Facebook.

According to Techcrunch, the hide like counts feature will be rolled out first in Australia today September 27th 2019. With it in place, only the author of a post will see the exact numbers of likes(reactions). Others will only see the name of the first person to like + "and others".

Hide Like counts on Facebook: Image by Techcrunch

Techcrunch was able to speak with a Facebook spokesperson and here is what he said;

We are running a limited test where like, reaction, and video view counts are made private across Facebook. We will gather feedback to understand whether this change will improve people’s experiences

 Jane Manchun Wong a mobile app researcher spotted the hide like counts code in the Facebook Mobile app source code via reversed engineering.  This was confirmed earlier this year by Facebook. And according to Jane Manchun, The fact that Facebook is following suit after Instagram indicates they have confidence the pros of hiding like counts outweigh the cons.

Facebook is working to hide like counts, too!https://t.co/WnUrM12aZg

Tip @Techmeme pic.twitter.com/TdT73wT6A0

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) 2 septembre 2019

As it is now, this feature is still to be tested and if it gets positive feedback, it will likely be rolled out in other regions.

The "hide like counts for the Facebook post" could ease up the mind of facebook users since their post will no more be announcing their porr performance.