Can People See Your Likes on Instagram?

Instagram is one of the most widely used social media platforms, with approximately two billion users worldwide. As you scroll through posts and reels, dropping likes and comments, you may have wondered if people (or your followers) can see your likes, especially when you are reacting to a controversial post.

The good news is that Instagram has given you privacy and user controls that can help you navigate this. In this article, we will explore how Instagram handles the likes you offer and those you receive on your posts.

Can People See the Posts You’ve Liked on Instagram?

Whenever you like a public post, everyone can see that you liked it. This can show up when a mutual or follower sees the same post. Instagram uses this to encourage your mutuals to also interact with the post, as your interests may align.

Also, whenever someone clicks on the post’s list of likes, your username will be displayed as one of the people who liked the post, no matter how large the number of likes on the post is. Even if your account is private, your likes are still visible on a public post.

1Can People See the Likes on Your Posts?

Firstly, the people to whom your posts are visible are determined by whether your account is set to public or private. If you have a public account, everyone can see your posts. However, if it’s private, only your approved followers can see your posts, including the likes and comments on the post. Now, anyone who can see your post can also see its likes and go through the list of likes.

Naturally, after 4 likes, Instagram starts displaying the number of likes on your post. However, since the number of likes on Instagram posts has been linked to rising mental health issues in younger adults, Instagram introduced a feature that allows you to hide the like count on your post. You can follow these simple steps to hide the likes on your post:

Before sharing the post, click on the three dots with “More options,” then scroll till you find “Hide like and view counts on this post.” Toggle this on to activate this feature.
If you wish to activate this after posting, click on the three dots at the top right corner of the post, then click on “Hide like count.”

Instagram also allows you to hide the like count on your profile view. To do this:

Go to profile settings.
Scroll till you find “Business tools and controls,” then click on “View counts on profile.”
Toggle on “Hide view counts.”

Another interesting feature Instagram introduced is the ability to hide like counts on the posts you see on your feed. To activate this feature:

Go to your profile settings.
Under “What you see,” click on “Like and share counts.”
Toggle on “Hide like and share counts.”

2Are Likes on Stories and Reels Visible?

Unlike normal posts, likes on stories can only be seen by the owner of the post. There is no list of likes available for Instagram stories. On the other hand, reels are just like normal posts where your likes are visible to the public, especially to your followers. Instagram uses this to recommend reels to watch to your followers and vice versa.

When you are scrolling through reels, you may see your friend’s profile picture with a heart icon. Clicking on this takes you to the “with friends” tab, where you can see which of your friends have liked which reels. To hide the like count for your uploaded reels, follow the same steps highlighted above.

3Why Is It Important to Hide Instagram Likes

As fun as Instagram can be, multiple studies have linked Instagram to mental health problems in youth. They suffer from the need for people’s approval, low self-esteem, loneliness, and anxiety. To tackle this, Instagram launched the hide likes feature to reduce the pressure on its users. The following are some of the reasons you should enable this feature today:

Taking Away Biased Opinions

A common phenomenon on social media is that a post with numerous likes is most likely worth your time, hence influencing you to engage. It is best to hide likes to stop these biased ideas, especially if you’re a new influencer trying to grow your account. Sometimes, some new accounts with fewer engagements have better content than older ones, but are considered less important because of fewer likes.

Less Need for Social Approval

Many people today, especially young adults, suffer from low self-esteem and constantly crave social approval to boost their confidence. Despite being smart and beautiful, they compare the number of likes on their posts with other popular accounts to fuel their self-esteem. They feel they are not enough until they are pulling the same numbers. However, by hiding the likes count, Instagram helps take this pressure off, allowing them to focus on creating good content.

Increased Focus on Creativity

With the like count turned off, the competition on Instagram reduces, and its users can focus on making valuable content. You should note that you will still be able to personally see the number of likes if you activate this feature. This will help you figure out which of your posts people like better, which is vital in creating good content.

Final Thoughts

In the end, people will always be able to see the posts you have liked on Instagram even if your account is set to private. If you see a controversial post and are concerned about people’s opinions, the best thing to do if you “like” the post is to abstain.

Conversely, if you want to hide the like counts on your posts or the ones you see, go to your profile settings, then follow the steps previously highlighted. This can help reduce biased opinions and boost your creativity. However, if your Instagram posts are barely getting any likes, visit FreeLikes to get up to 100 free likes, views, and followers.