Instagram accidentally removed 'likes' for some usershere's what your posts will look like without them

<p><img src="https://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5c2ceada0df1760bb7605824-1920/in.jpg" border="0" alt="Instagram" data-mce-source="happydancing/Shutterstock"></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>Some Instagram users were surprised to find like counts missing from the app on Tuesday due to a bug. The company has been testing removing likes for years, and accidentally released the test to the public.</p><p>"We unintentionally added more people to the test today, which was a bugwe're fixing this issue and restoring like counts to those people as soon as possible" a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/02/tech/instagram-hiding-likes-bug/index.html">spokesperson told CNN</a>.</p><p>The change has been in the works for a while. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri announced in 2019 at Wired25 that the platform would <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-to-test-hiding-like-counts-in-us-wired25-2019-11">begin hiding "like"</a> counts on posts within a week, Adrienne So at <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/instagram-hiding-likes-adam-mosseri-tracee-ellis-ross-wired25/'utm_campaign=wired&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_social-type=owned&amp;utm_brand=wired&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;mbid=social_twitter">Wired</a> reported. At first, likes will disappear only for certain users as a test of the feature.</p><p>"We will make decisions that hurt the business if they help people's well-being and health," Mosseri said, according to Wired.</p><p>Instagram was <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-to-test-hiding-like-counts-in-us-wired25-2019-11">already testing out</a> hiding likes in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, and New Zealand, which began in July 2019.</p><p>Likes aren't completely gone for those in the test. You can still view the like count on your own photos and videosjust not posts from others.</p><p>In April of that year, Adam Mosseri told <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/instagram-hide-like-counts-in-test">BuzzFeed News</a> that removing likes was "about creating a less pressurized environment where people feel comfortable expressing themselves."</p><p>Here is what Instagram looks like without likes, from Australian Instagram where this update has already rolled out:</p><p><img src="https://static3.businessinsider.com/image/603fa565b46d720018b048e1-2000/untitled-1.jpg" border="0" alt="instagram hiding likes" data-mce-source="Instagram"></p><p>Instagram isn't the only social-media platform to experiment with removing public metrics.</p><p>In September 2019, Facebook, which owns Instagram, experimented with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-hiding-like-count-test-rollout-australia-this-week-instagram-2019-9">removing "like" counts</a> on posts, and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has hinted at wanting to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-ceo-hinted-removing-like-button-users-freaked-out-2018-10">remove public likes</a> from tweets for years now.</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-removing-likes-what-it-will-look-like-2019-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-symphony-seas-worlds-largest-cruise-ship-deals-with-waste-2020-3">How waste is dealt with on the world's largest cruise ship</a></p>
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