Instagram, a Facebook-owned app, has been testing new features in the app over time, and only a limited number of users were tested before launching any feature worldwide.
Recently, the Instagram was testing a new feature, during which the app was found to be malfunctioning and this test was spanned to accounts of numerous users instead of limited users.
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
In the latest testing, Instagram was trying to hide the number of likes on the posts of users and due to a bug, the number of likes on the posts of several users were hidden.
This issue has now been fixed. Pull down to refresh your feed and your likes should restore - thanks for your patience!
— Instagram Comms (@InstagramComms) March 3, 2021
A statement from the company later said that this was an unintentional occurrence which they are trying to fix as soon as possible and users will start seeing the likes of their posts back.
Remember that Instagram started testing the feature of keeping likes hidden from 2019.
The company said that the purpose of hiding the number of likes is to keep followers on Instagram focused on what they have shared, not on how many likes are coming to the posts.
The company clarified that the main purpose of this change is to relieve the users from the pressure of ‘most likes’ they have on their posts, while also comparing them with each other based on the number of likes.
