Facebook rolling out test to hide ‘likes’ (ASL – 9.28.19)

Transcript

Facebook is testing a plan to hide ‘likes’.

The reason?

Company officials say they want followers to focus on the photos and videos you share and not how many ‘likes’ they get.

Likes, reactions and video views from users will be made private, meaning no one but the account holder can see their
‘likes’.

By rethinking the ‘like’ feature, Facebook believes that social network will be less stressful to users.

Starting today the plan will be tested in Australia.

In April, Facebook-owned Instagram announced it will begin testing hiding ‘like’ counts in Canada in an effort to help reduce pressure on the platform.

Hiding ‘likes’ has since expanded to other countries including Ireland, New Zealand and Australia.

Not everyone is excited about the new plan.

Some social media influencers who have built businesses on the number of ‘likes’ they receive are concerned hiding ‘likes’ will hurt their brand sponsorships, which pay out based on the number of engagements with their posts.

The Closed Caption version of this video can be found here:
https://sign1news.com/2019/09/28/sign1news-9-28-19/

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