Instagram hides like a tally in a leaked design prototype – TechCrunch

"We want your subscribers to focus on what you share, not on the number of mentions of your posts. During this test, only the person sharing a message sees the total number of "likes." This is how Instagram describes a seemingly small design change test with a huge potential impact on the well-being of users.

Hiding as accounts could reduce the herd mentality, where people just like what already has tons of tastes. This could reduce the feeling of competition on Instagram because users will not compare their own stats with those of more popular friends or creators of superstars. And that might encourage creators to publish what seems to them the most authentic instead of trying to create "I like" for everyone to see them.

The design change test was spotted by Jane Manchun Wong, the prolific reverse engineering expert and habitual TechCrunch informant, who spotted tons of Instagram features before their official confirmation or launch. Wong discovered the design change test in Instagram's Android code and was able to generate the screenshots above.

You can see on the left that the publication in the Instagram feed does not contain the number of similar results, but that it still shows a few faces and the name of other people who liked it. Users are warned that only those who will see the post in their account will be shown, and others will not see it.

An Instagram has confirmed to TechCrunch that this design is an internal prototype that is not yet visible to the public. A spokesperson told us: "We are not testing this yet, but we are still thinking about reducing the pressure on Instagram." We also discussed other features during the same phase, such as: than video calls. , movie music for Stories, and the well-spent app dashboard have all received official launches.

Meanwhile, Wong has also recently spotted several other Instagram prototypes hidden in his Android code. Those who are superimposed stickers for direct messages, augmented reality filters for Direct Video calls, co-watch videos recommended by Direct, karaoke style lyrics that seem to be synchronized with the soundtracks in Stories, emoji reactions to feed the messagesand one shopping bag for trade.

It seems that there is no plan to hide the follower accounts on the user profiles, which are the true measure of popularity, but also serve to distinguish the major content creators and evaluate their value for the users. marketing specialists. Hiding the likes could simply put more emphasis on the followers and the comments count. And even if users do not see the number of "Like" results, they still have a big impact on the stream's ranking algorithm. Creators will have to continue to press for them to be visible.

This change is consistent with a growing belief that the number of points of comparison can be counterproductive or even harmful to the user's psyche. In 2016, Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom told me that abandoning the pressure of Like count was one of the driving forces behind the launch of Instagram Stories. Last month, Twitter began testing a design that hid retweet accounts behind an extra faucet to discourage unauthentic competition and herd mentality in the same way. And Snapchat never showed the number of followers or even the number of followers, which seemed less stressful, but also less useful for influencers.

Narcissism, spiraling envy and a low self-image can come from watching it count. They constantly remind social status hierarchies. For many users, this ended up being fun and started to look more like a job in the heart mines. If Instagram unveils this feature, it could put the emphasis on sharing art and self expression, without trying to win a popularity contest.