The pressure of that little (or big, as the case may be) number sitting under your latest Instagram post is a cause of constant anxiety – especially for those who make a living off the social media platform. But imagine a world where you could post to Instagram and not have to worry about it flunking out in the likes department? A world where people focus on the art of the image rather than its popularity? Well, that world might soon be a reality…

Reverse-engineering expert Jane Manchun-Wong, an expert in tracking down unreleased features for major social media apps, has spotted Instagram testing out a new feature that would prevent people from seeing the number of likes a post receives. While the user itself would have access to the like count, anybody else looking at the image will not be privy to this information.

A screenshot by Jane of the potential future feature reads: “We want your followers to focus on what you share, not how many likes your posts get. During this test, only the person who shared a post will see the total number of likes it gets.”

As with all features tested by Instagram, we will just have to see if this one will be rolled out to the public. Currently, Instagram is keeping a lid on the prototype, telling Tech Crunch: “We’re not testing this at the moment, but exploring ways to reduce pressure on Instagram is something we’re always thinking about.”

We will just have to wait and see…

What are your thoughts on the move? Would you prefer the like count on your Instagram posts to be private or do you like this information being public? We would love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments below.

Main image: Maya Stepper

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