Copying an experiment that started with Instagram in July, Facebook Inc. is testing hiding the number of “likes,” reactions and views that a post gets.

Starting with users in Australia, the social media giant is seeking to measure if the change encourages more meaningful interactions on its platform. As with a similar Instagram trial which covered Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand, users will be able to see their own like and view counts but they won’t be seen by others.

The coming experiment was first detected by data miner Jane Manchun Wong Sept. 2.

Facebook is working to hide like counts, too!https://t.co/WnUrM12aZg

Tip @Techmeme pic.twitter.com/TdT73wT6A0

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) September 2, 2019

As with the Instagram trial, Facebook is pitching this experiment as partly related to concerns over bullying and mental health, but it’s also intended to enhance the user experience.

“A large part of the driver for this is based on feedback from well-being researchers and we’ve certainly had positive comments from mental health experts and there is evidence that if you can see other people’s like counts, then that can impact how you’re interacting on the platform,” Mia Garlick, Facebook’s Australian head of policy, told Mumbrella. “So we just want to see if this is something that, by removing it, and making it private, if this does increase the value people find on the platform.”

Garlick said the decision to remove likes from Instagram has had “positive feedback,” which may be true when it comes to outside groups but not so much  its top users, who nearly universally slammed the decision. Some marketing experts also claimed the decision to remove likes was nothing more than a money-making exercise disguised as mental health advocacy.

The decision to remove like counts on Instagram also had privacy implications with young users switching to business accounts to lean more about how their posts are performing, exposing personal information in the process.

Facebook, though is a different beast than Instagram and its so-called influencers. In some ways Facebook is more open and democratic in that it’s not dominated by a set of users and it certainly isn’t an open competition for influence either. Which begs the question: Is removing like counts really needed?

Image: Sue Seecof/Flickr