Facebook And Instagram Are Removing Like Counts To Hide The Popularity Of WrongThink Ideas

[pipedreams]

"Facebook and Instagram are both testing the removal of like count totals so that WrongThink ideas aren’t viewed as popular. They claim the move is to prevent users from comparing themselves to others, but in reality they want to hide the fact that WrongThink is becoming more popular.

Like it or not, engagement metrics matter. They highlight the popularity of ideas and of content. Removing the ability to see this removes the social influence that social media has. Twitter is also experimenting with a similar move in reply threats, which would hide the engagement metrics on content. This is all about correcting the record and controlling the narrative online. If you control the influencers and their ability to influence others, you control the world."

"Facebook  could soon start hiding the Like counter on News Feed posts to protect users’ from envy and dissuade them from self-censorship. Instagram is already testing this in 7 countries including Canada and Brazil, showing a post’s audience just a few names of mutual friends who’ve Liked it instead of the total number. The idea is to prevent users from destructively comparing themselves to others and possibly feeling inadequate if their posts don’t get as many Likes. It could also stop users from deleting posts they think aren’t getting enough Likes or not sharing in the first place."

https://news.gab.com/2019/09/03/facebook-and-instagram-are-removing-like-counts-to-hide-the-popularity-of-wrongthink-ideas/

[Historian]

Why anyone uses those sites is beyond me.

[janice6]

On 5/20/2020 at 8:30 AM, pipedreams said:

"Facebook and Instagram are both testing the removal of like count totals so that WrongThink ideas aren’t viewed as popular. They claim the move is to prevent users from comparing themselves to others, but in reality they want to hide the fact that WrongThink is becoming more popular.

Like it or not, engagement metrics matter. They highlight the popularity of ideas and of content. Removing the ability to see this removes the social influence that social media has. Twitter is also experimenting with a similar move in reply threats, which would hide the engagement metrics on content. This is all about correcting the record and controlling the narrative online. If you control the influencers and their ability to influence others, you control the world."

"Facebook  could soon start hiding the Like counter on News Feed posts to protect users’ from envy and dissuade them from self-censorship. Instagram is already testing this in 7 countries including Canada and Brazil, showing a post’s audience just a few names of mutual friends who’ve Liked it instead of the total number. The idea is to prevent users from destructively comparing themselves to others and possibly feeling inadequate if their posts don’t get as many Likes. It could also stop users from deleting posts they think aren’t getting enough Likes or not sharing in the first place."

https://news.gab.com/2019/09/03/facebook-and-instagram-are-removing-like-counts-to-hide-the-popularity-of-wrongthink-ideas/

Some think that it's absolutely imperative for them to manage people, knowing that if left to their own means, those loose people might just lead to the strongest society in the strongest country in the world. 

But now with the kind of leadership a few "social managers" offer, these people can be brought to heel, as Hillary once said!