Elon Musk has decided to make likes on X private. Some people are happy about this change while others are not.
Haofei Wang, X’s Director of Engineering, said, “Yes, we are making likes private.”
When this change happens users will not be able to see which posts other people have liked on their profiles.
Aaron Perris, a MacRumors researcher first found this new feature in the X app for iOS. The feature turns off the likes tab on users’ profiles. Wang explained “Public likes are causing problems. Many people are afraid to like ‘edgy’ content because they don’t want trolls to attack them or hurt their public image.”
Wang said making likes private will help people feel safer and make the For You recommendations better. But, many questions still need answers.
Enrique Barragan, X’s Senior Software Engineer said users will still see who liked their own posts. The number of likes on posts and replies will also be visible.
The main change is that users won’t be able to see who liked other people’s posts. Also, there will not be a tab showing all the posts a user has liked.
This change is different from many of Musk’s other ideas because it seems ready to happen soon. Right now only Premium subscribers can hide their likes but this update will be for everyone.
The goal is to protect users from getting backlash for liking controversial content, Wang added.
