Instagram Confirms Bug That Accidentally Deleted Likes

If you logged into Instagram today you may have noticed a bizarre message at the top of the app which read "Testing a Chance to How You See Likes - We want your followers to focus on what you share, not how many likes your posts get. During this test, only you will be able to see the total number of likes on your posts." This test however produced a bug and way too many people on the app weren't seeing likes across the board than they originally intended. In a statement Instagram confirmed it was a bug and that it should be reverted back to normal soon.

"We've been testing a new experience to hide likes on Feed posts," the official Instagram Comms account on Twitter wrote earlier. "We unintentionally added more people to the test today, which was a bug — we're fixing this issue and restoring like counts to those people as soon as possible." The flagship Instagram account on Twitter quote-tweeted the message, adding "So Instagram ...did not mean to hide likes for everyone," adding the grimacing face emoji to conclude their post.

We've been testing a new experience to hide likes on Feed posts. We unintentionally added more people to the test today, which was a bug — we’re fixing this issue and restoring like counts to those people as soon as possible.

— Instagram Comms (@InstagramComms) March 3, 2021

Instagram users may recall that the company first announced this "Hidden Likes" test way two years ago noting that they believed it would be better in the long run for engagement on the platform.

"While the feedback from early testing in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan and New Zealand has been positive, this is a fundamental change to Instagram, and so we're continuing our test to learn more from our global community," they posted in November of 2019. "In addition, we understand that like counts are important for many creators, and we are actively thinking through ways for creators to communicate value to their partners.

Reactions to today's bug were mixed, with many actively missing seeing the like counts on other post and some not minding that they were absent. News that today's test was largely a bug though has drawn responses addressing other issues that they have with Instagram. One user tweeted: "you can keep the like count hidden but can you PLEASE bring back chronological time lines again? I AM BEGGING YOU." Another added: "Give swipe up to businesses with less than 10k followers."

What do you think of the hidden likes feature on Instagram? Did you get caught in the bug today? Sound off in the comments and let us know!

(Cover Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)