For a long time, I felt out-of-touch with my Instagram account. I would post a photo only to delete it later because I’d stared at it too long or it hadn’t received as many likes as I’d hoped. Seeing everyone else’s perfectly curated Instagram pages made me extremely jealous. “Why couldn’t I create content like them?” I asked myself. I soon became obsessed with numbers, recording the amount of followers and likes I got with each post. Over time, my obsession grew and I began to resent my feed and Instagram in general. Even though I recognized this was becoming a problem, I could never bring myself to delete my account.Â
One day, as I was scrolling through TikTok, I saw a video of a girl showing off an Instagram update. In the video, she demonstrated how Instagram users could now “Hide Like Counts” on posts. I immediately took an interest in this new feature and wondered if hiding my like counts would help reduce some of my anxiety when it came to posting. Following the steps laid out in the TikTok, I went to my Instagram Privacy settings and, under “Posts,” clicked “Hide Like and View Counts.”
Five months later, I still have my like counts turned off. While I can still see the number of likes on a post when I click to see who has specifically liked it, having them more hidden has made such a difference in my attitude towards Instagram. I actually enjoy posting now. I still have some bad days, where I feel self-conscious of my statistics, but I am no longer nearly as obsessive as I was before.Â
Not only does “Hiding Like Counts” in Privacy Settings affect my posts, I’m also not able to see the like counts on others’ posts. At first, I was split on this feature, however; I think that not seeing other people’s like counts has helped Instagram seem less intimidating to me. I find that I don’t compare myself to other accounts as much and that I am actually able to enjoy their content. When I first hid my like counts, there was no option to keep seeing other posts’ likes. However, I did some tests and it does seem like Instagram has updated this feature so that users have the option to have the best of both worlds if they wanted to. After you post a photo, click the three dots at the top right of the post and there should be an option to “Hide Like Count” for just that one. If you want to be consistent with it though, make sure you do this for all of your older posts and every time you post new content.
Overall, hiding like counts has made Instagram a more positive experience for me. And, while I understand this might not work for everyone, I highly recommend this option to anyone who relates to feeling overwhelmed by social media as I did. Don’t just take my word for it though, check out this other Her Campus article if you’re interested to see more college womens’ opinions on how this feature has helped their mental health.