Elon Musk-owned X, formerly Twitter, is removing Likes tab from the platform and also from your account. The micro-blogging platform announced on Wednesday, June 12, it is making "Likes private for privacy." According to Musk, this change aims to allow users to "like posts without getting attacked for doing so."
Originally, the ability to hide the Likes tab on X was introduced last year as a exclusive feature for X Premium subscribers only. When announcing the feature, X stated it would help users "keep spicy Likes private."
In an announcement on X, the company’s Engineering account revealed that starting this week, users will no longer be able to view posts liked by others. This change means that all likes will be visible only to the individual user. Although the total Like count will still be displayed in notifications, X users will not be able to see who liked a particular post.
"This week we’re making Likes private for everyone to better protect your privacy," @XEng posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Why Is X Removing The Likes Tab?
Haofei Wang, an X engineer, previously said: "Public likes are incentivising the wrong behaviour. Many users feel discouraged from liking 'edgy' content for fear of retaliation from trolls or to protect their public image."
X Premium users have had the option to hide their likes.
One of the biggest critics of these changes is former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who questioned the purpose of this change and how it differs from a bookmark.
This new change eliminates one incentive for subscribing to X premium service. Notably, the Premium+ tier is priced at $16 per month; it removes ads from users' timelines, while the most affordable tier costs $3 per month and yet, does not include the website's blue checkmark.
Likes have been an old feature on Twitter, as well as on other social media platforms like Meta-owned Instagram and Facebook.