Instagram to hide likes from users in US to stop platform ‘feeling like a competition’

Company has already trialled the update in several countries including Ireland, Italy and Australia

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Instagram has announced that some users in the US will next week have their “likes” hidden from posts on the social media platform.

Earlier this year, the company began trialling the measure in countries including Ireland, Italy and Australia.

The aim of hiding likes, the company stated, is to remove the element of “pressure” from the social media platform and to stop it feeling “like a competition”.

“We’ve been testing making likes private on Instagram in a number of countries this year,” said Adam Mosseri, chief executive of the firm.

“We’re expanding those tests to include a small portion of people in the US next week. Looking forward to the feedback!”

When likes on Instagram are made private, this means that only users are able to see the number of likes their posts receive.

When other users look at their posts, they are only able to see the name of one account that has liked a picture, in addition to “others”.

Instagram first trialled hiding likes on the platform in Canada in May, before rolling out the feature in countries including Brazil, Japan and New Zealand.

The social media platform previously said that measurement tools for business accounts would not be affected by the update.

Last month, it was announced that Instagram face filters that allow users to look as though they have undergone plastic surgery were to be removed.

Spark AR, the augmented reality platform that creates the filters, released a statement announcing the update on Facebook.

The company said it was re-evaluating its “existing policies as they relate to well-being”, saying that they want those who use Spark AR effects to have a “positive experience”.