Last year, Meta, formerly known as Facebook, announced that it would allow Facebook and Instagram users to hide like and view counts on their own and other users’ posts.
As more research comes to light about the link between social media use and adverse mental health outcomes in teens, some tech companies have attempted to mitigate their products’ negative impacts.
Meta had been testing the feature since 2019 before a wider roll-out last year. As a result, not every user has access to the part yet. But for those who do, here is how to hide your likes on Instagram on the Android and iOS apps.
Steps for hiding likes on Instagram
Tap on the menu bar in the upper right-hand corner of your profile page and select “Settings.”
- Go to “Privacy”
- Select “Posts”
- Toggle “Hide like, and view counts” on or off.
How to hide likes on your posts
In the last window, go to “Advanced settings” at the bottom before you publish a post. You can toggle “Hide like, and view counts for this post.”
To turn on or off like counts for posts you’ve already published, go to the post and click on the three beads in the upper right-hand corner. You will have the chance to “Hide Like Count.”
Instagram is a free social media forum for sharing photos and videos.
Since its liftoff, Instagram has become a popular way to connect with labels, celebrities, thought leaders, buddies, family, etc.
Instagram has a vast collection of features, from short-form videos to live streaming, that we’ll outline beneath.
One could discuss that Instagram is a social media network like no other. However, instead of words, the platform is built almost wholly around sharing images and videos. This visual wrenching is why Instagram is the artistic powerhouse today – “Instagramming” is officially a verb now.
With over a billion registered accounts, Instagram, bought by Facebook in 2012, has become a part of daily life. Everyone is on Instagram nowadays, from small companies to big ones, news organizations to cultural organizations, celebs, photographers, and musicians, and not to say the cottage industry of influencers that have come in its wake. It also doesn’t harm that we all treasure rooting for a well-captured selfie.
Downloading Instagram and forming an account
You’ll require to download the app and mark up an account to start utilizing Instagram. It’s available for free on Android, iOS, and Windows appliances. While there isn’t an app completely optimized for iPads, you can still enjoy the whole IG experience on your iPad by altering your App Store settings to find the app.
Upon unlocking the app for the first time, you’ll be driven to create a new account or log in with your Facebook account. If you decide to make a new account, the methodology is straightforward: You’ll be requested for your phone number or email address, desired username, full name, and password.
Once you create an account, it’s worth mentioning that you can start and switch between multiple Instagram accounts without logging out – a handy feature if you desire to, say, run separate accounts for personal and professional benefit.
Even though Instagram is developed primarily for smartphones, the desktop experience – once very limited – has steadily improved over the years. Today, you can obtain Instagram from your computer and utilize a web browser to edit your profile, view your feed, like and comment on posts, and mail and receive direct messages.
The only thing you can’t accomplish on your computer? Command photos and videos. Not officially, anyway. If you’re wondering how to post pictures and videos from your computer, there’s a workaround in your browser settings.
When you set up your Instagram account, you’ll want to set up your profile. Your profile page is a hub for all your photos and videos, where you can keep track of who you’re tracking and who’s tracking you. It’s also where you can access your settings.
Profile pages are often the first thing people visit, so it’s best to keep your username, profile picture, and bio up to date. Your profile picture is the icon that appears with your username all over the platform, while your bio is a space to offer a brief description of yourself or your brand. You can also add a link to your website, if applicable.
Customizing notifications
Keeping up with others on Instagram means ensuring you get the proper notifications when you want them. The platform gives you the power to choose what push notifications it sends to your device.
Perhaps you want to receive a notification when you get a new follower or when someone comments on your post. Or maybe you’re feeling inundated with pings, and you want them to turn notifications off altogether.
How does Instagram work?
At its core, Instagram is a social network and a highly visual one. Every time you open the app, you’ll be met with the main feed of recent posts from the accounts you follow. At the bottom is a menu bar, which is accessible anywhere you are in the app.
- Home: Your main feed where you can scroll through photos and videos posted by your friends.
- Search and explore: The magnifying glass icon takes you to the Explore page, where you can search and browse content from accounts you don’t follow yet but might be interested in.
- Upload: The large plus button lets you upload and edit photos and videos, either by choosing from your phone’s camera roll or opening the camera within the app.
- Activity: The heart icon takes you to a page that displays like and comments on your posts, among other activity updates.
- Profile: This icon navigates to your profile page that shows your bio and posts. It’s also where you can access your settings.
Like other social media networks, Instagram is what you make it. For most people, checking Instagram is equal parts voyeurism and self-expression. However, for the entrepreneurial set, like business owners, brands, and influencers, Instagram is an indispensable marketing tool with unmatched reach.
But going back to basics, Instagram works off a simple premise: You follow accounts that interest you. In turn, people follow you. People can “like” and comment on your posts, and you can do the same to their posts. Whether you maintain a low profile or amass a following, how active you are is entirely up to you.
Uploading, editing, and posting photos
To share a photo or video on Instagram, tap the large plus button, where you can select photos or videos from your phone’s camera roll to post. Instagram allows you to select up to 10 photos and videos to post at once.
You can choose to apply a filter for every post, which, depending on who you ask, is essential to the Instagram experience. Filters make it easy to edit shots with different visual pre-set overlays. For example, some filters, like “Mayfair,” give everything a pink hue; others, like “Willow,” turn everything black-and-white.
- Once your post is to your liking and ready to go, there are a few more optional things you can do before you hit the “share” button:
- Add a caption: Captions are always a good idea. You can use words, emojis, or hashtags. Like in comments, you can also “mention” friends by placing “@” in front of their username. Keep in mind you can edit captions at any time – or delete them if need be in the future.
- Tag people: Instagram allows you to “tag” someone in your photos. When you tag someone, they’ll get a notification in their activity feed.
- Add location: Location tags let others know where your photo was taken. Clicking on a location tag brings you to its corresponding location feed, where you can peruse other public posts.
Also, post to other social accounts: Instagram also gives you the ability to publish a post to other social accounts simultaneously. For example, you can cross-post to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr by linking accounts.