Quick Answer
You can hide comments and likes on your posts by adjusting your privacy settings in the app or on the website. Here are the main ways to do it:
- To hide like counts, go to Settings > Privacy > Posts and toggle off “Show Like Counts” or “Show Likes”
- To disable comments, go to Settings > Privacy > Comments and toggle off “Allow Comments”
- You can hide likes and comments for individual posts when you share them
Hiding like counts and comments can give you more control over your presence on social media. Just know that disabling comments means people can’t engage with your posts.
Hiding Like Counts on Your Posts
One of the easiest ways to hide feedback on your posts is to turn off the display of like counts. This prevents people from seeing how many likes your posts receive. Here are the steps for the major social platforms:
On Facebook, you can hide like counts for your posts in your News Feed privacy settings:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings
- Click Privacy
- Under the Audience and Tagging section, find News Feed Preferences
- Toggle off “Show how many people liked posts” and “Show who liked posts”
This removes like counts and names from all your posts in feeds. You can still see the counts on your own posts by going to your profile or page. Other people won’t see them though.
Instagram gives you granular control over like counts:
- Go to your profile and tap the three lines in the top right
- Go to Settings > Privacy
- Under Posts, tap Show Like Counts
- Choose whether to show counts for your posts or keep them private
You can choose to show like counts just to you, hide them from everyone, or disable them for specific posts. Instagram also lets you hide view counts for individual posts and your videos.
Twitter doesn’t have a global setting to hide like counts, but you can disable counts as you tweet:
- When composing a tweet, tap the icon with three dots below the text box
- Toggle off Show Tweet Counts
- This will disable counts for that specific tweet
You have to disable counts on a tweet-by-tweet basis. Another option is using a third-party Twitter client that lets you hide all counts.
YouTube
On YouTube, you can choose whether viewers see like and dislike counts on your videos:
- Go to YouTube Studio and select Customization
- Under View Counts, toggle Public View Counts off
This hides public view counts for all future video uploads. It doesn’t affect existing videos though. You can also toggle the dislikes setting here to hide dislike counts if you want.
Disabling Comments on Your Posts
In addition to hiding likes, you may want to disable public comments on your social posts. Every platform lets you control commenting to some degree:
To turn off comments on Facebook:
- Go to Settings & Privacy > Settings
- Click Privacy
- Go to the Posts section
- Toggle Allow Friends to Comment on Your Public Posts to off
This disables comments from friends and the public. You can also limit commenting to just friends or yourself.
On Instagram:
- Go to Settings > Privacy
- Next to Comments, tap Comment Controls
- Select Block Comments Entirely to disable them
You can block comments on individual posts too. Your followers will see that comments are limited.
Twitter has several commenting options:
- In Settings, go to Privacy and Safety > Audience and Tagging
- Update your settings under Who Can Reply and Who Can Mention Me
Choose between everyone, people you follow, and just people you mention. You can also limit replies on a per-tweet basis.
YouTube
To disable comments on YouTube:
- Go to YouTube Studio and select Customization
- Under Comments and Ratings, toggle Hold Potentially Inappropriate Comments for Review or Disable Comments Entirely
Holding for review means you get to approve comments first. Disabling is permanent unless you change the setting later. You can also limit comments on a per-video basis.
Hiding Feedback as You Post
Most social platforms give you real-time control over feedback and viewer counts as you share posts and videos:
- Facebook: When creating a post, use the audience selector below the text box to limit who can see and engage with that post.
- Instagram: Tap Advanced Settings when sharing and toggle off Commenting to disable it.
- Twitter: Tap the icon with three dots as you compose a tweet to disable replies and keep tweet stats private.
- YouTube: Go to Advanced Settings on a video and toggle Comments Off or Keep All Ratings Private.
These settings override your broader account and privacy preferences for individual pieces of content.
Reasons to Hide Likes and Comments
Here are some common reasons why people choose to disable likes and comments:
- Reduce social comparison and competitive feelings from high like counts
- Avoid negative or abusive comments from trolls
- Present a more human image rather than focusing on vanity metrics
- Prevent spoilers and leaks by disabling comments on entertainment industry accounts
- Lessen distractions and social media addiction
- Focus on sharing your passion instead of popularity
For personal accounts, hiding feedback can improve your well-being and let you focus on creating. For creators and businesses, it keeps the focus on your content rather than public reaction.
Some downsides are losing opportunities for engagement and feedback from your audience. Comments also provide social proof that can attract new viewers. So keep that in mind when limiting visibility.
Other Ways to Control Your Social Experience
In addition to likes and comments, here are some other tips for managing your social media presence:
- Turn off read receipts and typing indicators on Messenger
- Use Twitter circles to segment who sees your tweets
- Disable Instagram activity status sharing
- Mute annoying friends or threads on Facebook and Twitter
- Use LinkedIn privacy settings to customize visible info
- Limit old posts visibility with Instagram and Facebook time bound posts
Getting granular with privacy settings gives you more control over your experience. Social media doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing if you spend time customizing visibility and interactions.
Should You Completely Quit Social Media?
What if you want to go beyond just hiding likes and comments and quit social media altogether? Here are some pros and cons of deactivating your accounts:
Potential Benefits
- Break free of unhealthy social media addiction and compulsive checking
- Reclaim more time and concentration for important tasks
- Avoid exposure to negativity, misinformation, and harmful comparisons
- Take a mental health break and reduce anxiety
- Increase intimacy of real-world relationships
- Encourage deeper thinking without constant noise and distraction
For many, completely unplugging leads to greater happiness, freedom, and presence. It removes the pressures of maintaining an online identity and keeping up with news feeds.
Potential Drawbacks
- Miss out on events, news, and opportunities shared online
- Lose connection with certain friends and family abroad
- Disappear from professional networking and conversations
- Abruptly disconnect from an online community
- Feel left out seeing others interact online
- Lose access to useful information and recommendations
Social media provides valuable social connections and information streams for many people. Leaving entirely can isolate you and make you miss key updates.
Tips for Quitting
If you do decide to deactivate, here are some tips:
- Download your data for memories and contacts
- Let close ties know you’ll be offline and how to reach you
- Remove apps from your phone to resist temptation
- Replace social media time with more enriching activities
- Limit to 30-day experiment if a full detox seems too extreme
- Take it slow by starting with disabling notifications
Like any habit change, staying committed takes patience and discipline. But the mental clarity you gain may make social media fasting worth trying.
Conclusion
Hiding like counts and comments puts the focus back on sharing your voice versus chasing engagement metrics. The major platforms all provide ways to disable feedback, either across your whole account or on individual posts.
Consider your reasons for removing likes and comments – is it for privacy, mental health, or creating a particular image? With social media’s grip tightening by the year, taking back some control over your experience could be liberating.
But always weigh the pros and cons rather than assuming more privacy is necessarily better. Social interactions, even superficial ones, satisfy an innate human need. Find the right balance for your personality and goals.
Social media doesn’t have to be a popularity contest if you actively manage visibility and engagement. With a few privacy tweaks, you can reveal less, filter more, and broadcast your authentic self to the world.