Instagram accidentally hid likes for a few hours and everyone freaked out

Instagram mistakenly — and temporarily — hid like counts for a large swathe of users on Tuesday. And people lost their entire minds.

The change came with no warning or explanatory blog post, bucking the custom for such significant changes to an app. Instagram users simply logged on, went to check how many people appreciated their latest brunch snap, and received a rude shock. 

Instead of text revealing the exact number of likes their posts had gained, users were merely told that they was liked by a named account “and others.” This change affected everyone in users’ feeds as well, so they couldn’t see how many likes other people’s Instagram posts got either.

There was no reason to freak out, though. According to Instagram this expansion of a “test” that’s been in place for many users for months was entirely unintentional, as evidenced by its prompt reversal a few hours after it went live.

“We’ve been testing a new experience to hide likes on Feed posts,” a Facebook company spokesperson told Mashable. “Earlier today, we unintentionally added more people to the test, which was a bug. This issue has now been fixed. People can pull down to refresh their feed and their likes should restore.”

Though Instagram made clear that this was only a temporary change, that didn’t stop Instagram users’ strong reactions from rolling in — both positive and negative. Some applauded the move as beneficial for users’ mental health, however others already missed the validation they received from likes. Users also expressed concern that this change could impact Instagram influencers’ ability to make an income. 

It’s currently unclear exactly who was affected by Tuesday’s accidental launch. Instagram declined to comment further when contacted by Mashable. 

However, countries such as Canada, Australia, Ireland, Brazil, Italy, Japan, and New Zealand had already been dealing with the loss of likes since Instagram began testing the feature in 2019. A small test was also trialed in the U.S. later that year.

“We want your friends to focus on the photos and videos you share, not how many likes they get,” Instagram at the time of the initial rollout. “You can still see your own likes by tapping on the list of people who’ve liked it, but your friends will not be able to see how many likes your post has received.”

Though judging by the reactions of some people, the benefits of your content being well-liked appear significantly diminished if everyone else doesn’t know it’s well-liked too.