Instagram to hide likes from some users starting next week

Instagram will start hiding the number of likes from some users starting next week.

The move is expected to ease pressure on unhealthy competition among users to get more likes for a post.

”Likes, or how many hearts a post gets, will disappear from Instagram’s feed and user profile pages,” CNN reports.

To prevent the contest, users of the platform will be able to see their likes but other users will not be able to see and make comparisons.

Already,  the plan has been implemented in Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand.

Instagram head honcho George Moseri told a conference in San Fransisco that the plan is aimed at young people who form the majority of users.

”The idea is to depressurize Instagram, make it less of a competition,” he said.

Owners of interactive social media platforms are coming under fire over alarming increase in screen times leading to addiction and mental health concerns.

This, however, is just a test that will be conducted on some user accounts in the U.S.

Instagram has not mentioned any plans to make it permanent.

There has been mixed reactions with mental health experts welcoming the move but upcoming social media influencers crying foul because of their dependence on popularity judged from likes to attract advertisement deals.