Facebook Considers Hiding Like Counts

[engine]

Facebook is considering hiding "Like" counts on news feed posts in a bid to end "envy." It'd be a test at first, similar to the test at Instagram.

The idea is to prevent users from destructively comparing themselves to others and possibly feeling inadequate if their posts don’t get as many Likes. It could also stop users from deleting posts they think aren’t getting enough Likes or not sharing in the first place.

[techcrunch.com...]

It seems this is worse for younger people that have grown up with "likes."

[Marketing Guy]

Upvoted.

[engine]

hehehe,

I've seen some youngsters getting quite upset about the situation with likes (and lack of) and feel they missing out when they get fewer than their peers. For a young mind that can be yet another thing that tries today's youngsters.

[brotherhood of LAN]

Reassurance is never a bad thing but I can see why this popularity metric can be toxic. Why not simply highlight posts as "popular" or whatnot instead of a metric scale of worthiness that people compare themselves against.

As webmasters who often looked at the 'little green bar' there's maybe less room to talk ;o)

[RhinoFish]

If we don't get to vote on what's good, how will we know... lemme guess, they'll decide.

[tangor]

"popular" ends up the same place, as does "trending", etc... Heck, even "word of mouth" has the same foibles. :)

And whenever there is a popularity thing out there, there will be those that will subvert it by hook or crook to elevate themselves.

Nature of the beast (humans & vanity)

Sadly, given the scale of FB, the problem is more obvious than ever. And probably not to their ideological liking in some ways.

[Marketing Guy]

To be fair, our generation wasn't much better. I recall the early days of forums used to have various problems with people bumping post counts with thin posts, etc.

And, *ahem*, I'll see your Facebook likes and raise you an entire industry's obsession with toolbar PageRank! ;)

[tangor]

@Marketing Guy ... those were strange days! (never played the game myself)

Then again, the search engines of the day were doing all they could to race to the top ... and most of them are all gone. And PR has been moved to the backwater...

[engine]

Facebook is now running a test in Australia to hide "Like" counts. The author still sees the counts, but they are hidden from everyone else.

“We are running a limited test where like, reaction, and video view counts are made private across Facebook” a Facebook spokesperson tells me. “We will gather feedback to understand whether this change will improve people’s experiences.” If the test improves people’s sense of well-being without tanking user engagement, it could expand to more countries or even roll out to everyone, but no further tests are currently scheduled.

[techcrunch.com...]

[mack]

I really wish they would change it around so the user will see their likes and reactions, but not who they are from. This would lead to a lot more honesty. A bit like what YouTube does. You can see thumbs up and down but not who did what.

Mack.

[lucy24]

A bit like what YouTube does.

Or, ahem, the present forum? (Granted, we don’t have downvotes. But on the other hand, we don't often have threads that make the reader deeply regret they ever scrolled down.)

For me it depends on the venue. If it's an established forum with a few dozen regular contributors, you come to expect who will upvote what post--and if you don't see the expected names, you stop and ask yourself if you inadvertently said something stupid. But when you're talking to thousands of strangers, the names won't mean anything.