NEW YORK — Social media platform X is now hiding your likes.
In an update posted on the platform formerly known as Twitter this week, X’s engineering team said it would be “making Likes private for everyone to better protect your privacy.” That means users still will be able to see their own likes, but others will not — ending a feature that many long used.
The change went into effect Wednesday. As of the afternoon, the “Likes” tab appeared to only be available on users’ own profile page. When visiting other accounts, that tab is no longer available.
Computer monitors and a laptop display the sign-in page for X, formerly known as Twitter, on July 24 in Belgrade, Serbia.
Users also received a pop-up notification that seemed to suggest the change would result in more user engagement.
“Liking more posts will make your ‘For you’ feed better,” the message read.
According to the engineering team’s update, like counts and other metrics for a user’s own posts still will show up under notifications. Posts still appear to show how many likes they have — but the author will be the only person who can see a list of those who liked it.
People are also reading…
The option to hide likes previously was just available to paying Premium subscribers. When X announced that option in September, it said users could “keep spicy likes private by hiding your likes tab.”
The hidden like count is one of many changes that came to the platform since billionaire Elon Musk purchased it for $44 billion in 2022.
Beyond a new name and logo, other changes include doing away with the once-coveted blue checks for non-Premium users — and then restoring them to some.
The in-app changes have seen mixed receptions on the platform. Many voiced misinformation concerns in the early days of X stripping verification badges from prominent officials and news organizations, for example.
The platform also faced both rising user and advertiser pushback amid ongoing concerns about content moderation and hate speech on the San Francisco-based platform, which some researchers say has been rising under Musk.
