Facebook’s “Like” feature allows users to show their appreciation for content posted by friends, businesses, celebrities, and other entities. When you like a post, a thumbs up icon appears below it. Liking something also creates a link from your profile to that content, allowing your friends to see what you’ve liked.
While liking posts can be a quick way to engage with content, some users prefer to keep their like activity private. Fortunately, Facebook provides options to control the visibility of your likes.
In this article, we’ll explain how to turn off the like count on your own posts and hide your likes from others on Facebook.
Should You Turn Off Like Counts?
Before diving into the how-to, let’s explore some of the reasons you may want to turn off public like counts:
Avoid Social Pressure
Seeing low like numbers on your own posts can be disappointing. And watching a post get no engagement at all can be downright disheartening. Hiding like counts takes away the social pressure associated with them. You’ll be empowered to post what you want without worrying about vanity metrics.
Reduce Social Comparison
It’s natural to compare your own like counts to those of friends and influencers. But this can harm your self-esteem. Turning off public counts limits opportunities for social comparison.
Focus on Quality Interactions
High like counts don’t necessarily mean your content is connecting with people. And low like counts don’t necessarily mean no one values your content. Hiding public counts encourages you to focus less on vanity metrics and more on posting authentic content that resonates with your audience.
Increase Privacy
When you like a post, that action is viewable by your friends and followers. If you prefer to keep your like activity private, turning off public counts is a step in that direction.
Of course, there are also reasons you may want to keep like counts on. Likes indicate engagement and can help content gain visibility in the Facebook algorithm. Many people also enjoy seeing how much engagement their posts receive.
There are reasonable arguments on both sides. You’ll need to decide if turning off like counts is right for your personal objectives and posting style.
How to Hide Like Counts on Your Own Posts
If you decide you want to disable public like counts for your own content, here’s how to do it:
Via Facebook App
1. Open the Facebook app on your mobile device.
2. Tap the three horizontal line menu button in the top right.
3. Select “Settings & privacy” > “Settings”
4. Tap “Privacy”
5. Under “How people can find and contact you”, toggle “Who can see your like and reaction activity” to “Only me”
This setting prevents the number of likes and reactions on your posts from being visible to anyone except you.
Via Facebook Desktop Site
1. Log into Facebook from a web browser on your computer.
2. Click the down arrow at the top right and choose “Settings”
3. Select “Privacy” from the left menu
4. Click “Privacy settings” under “Your activity”
5. Under “How people bring your info to apps they use”, set “Activity reacts on public content” to “Only me”
Again, this ensures only you can see the like counts on your posts.
How to Hide Your Likes from Others
In addition to hiding like counts on your own content, you can prevent your likes from being visible to others. Here’s how:
On Mobile
1. Open the Facebook app menu (3 lines icon top right)
2. Tap “Settings & privacy” > “Settings”
3. Select “Privacy”
4. Tap “Your activity”
5. Toggle “Like and reaction activity” to “Only me”
Now your likes will not show up on friends’ timelines or be visible to anyone else.
On Desktop
1. Click the down arrow and choose “Settings”
2. Click “Privacy” in the left menu
3. Under “Your activity”, click “Privacy settings”
4. For “Activity reacts on friends’ public content”, select “Only me”
This stops your likes from displaying anywhere public.
Should Pages and Influencers Hide Likes?
Up to this point we’ve focused on personal accounts. But what about creators, businesses and influencers? Should they hide like and view counts too?
There are pros and cons to consider:
Potential Benefits
– Reduce social comparison among followers
– Lessen pressure to go viral
– Avoid jealousy/competitiveness with similar accounts
– Encourage high-quality authentic content
– Allow followers to focus on content itself
Potential Drawbacks
– Lose a vanity metric that impresses advertisers
– Reduce discoverability (posts with more likes appear higher in feeds)
– Take away a tool followers use to filter content
– Decrease competitiveness that can be motivating
– Limit ability to spot underperforming content
In the end there is no objectively right or wrong choice. Like counts can be useful signals but also sources of undue stress.
Pages and profiles with younger audiences may lean towards hiding like counts to protect self-esteem. Businesses focused on advertising and reach may prefer the visibility. Influencers seeking authentic engagement may go either way.
The best practice is to test both approaches and see what best aligns with your goals.
Other Ways to Customize Like Privacy
In addition to the major settings above, Facebook offers more granular ways to customize like activity visibility:
Disable Public Story Reacts
When people react to your public stories, that’s also visible by default. Turn this off under “Story Privacy”.
Limit Old Likes Visibility
New likes won’t show up publicly but old ones still will. Use the Activity Log tool to manage visibility of your historical likes.
Adjust Default Like Audience
Choose who new likes are visible to by default under “Interacting With Posts”.
Control Tags in Posts You’ve Liked
Decide if tags of your username should appear in liked posts via the “Others’ posts” setting.
Review App Activity Settings
Restrict which applications can access your like activity under “Apps, Websites and Games”.
As you can see, Facebook provides detailed like privacy options. Take time to explore what configurations work best for your needs.
Other Ways to Control News Feed Content
In addition to managing like settings, you have other tools to determine what you see in your Facebook feed:
Unfollow People or Pages
See less of someone’s content without unfriending them by unfollowing. Their posts no longer show up in feed.
Snooze Keywords
Temporarily hide posts with specified keywords, phrases or names.
Turn Follower Lists On/Off
Control visibility of followers and who you’re following.
Prioritize Close Friends
Facebook suggests giving preference to posts from your closest connections.
Follow Interesting Hashtags and Topics
Fill your feed with content related to your hobbies, causes and passions.
React Less Frequently
The more you like, comment and share, the more Facebook shows you similar content.
Provide Feedback on Recommendations
Actively rating recommended posts helps Facebook improve suggestions.
By mixing and matching these techniques, you can achieve a Facebook feed with less noise and more signal aligned to your preferences.
Should Facebook Offer a “Dislike” Button?
Some advocate that Facebook should add a “dislike” button in addition to their iconic “like” as an expanded way for users to share feedback:
Potential Benefits
– Lets users express a wider range of sentiments
– Provides more granular signals to improve content ranking
– Adds a degree of counterbalance to offset misleading or dangerous posts
– Allows brands to identify poor performing content
– Helps surface controversial but important discussions
Potential Drawbacks
– Increases potential for negativity and harassment
– Decreases user sharing and engagement
– Damages self-esteem of content creators
– Becomes a tool for trolls and bad actors
– Forces Facebook to play judge and censor
There are reasonable points on both sides. While a dislike button could add nuance, Facebook may be wise to avoid the risk of increased toxicity.
They have added other react options like Care, Haha, Sad, and Angry that provide more range than the single Like button. Overall, Facebook’s design avoids a hard negative signal.
Conclusion
Like counts hold significance, both positive and negative, in the fabric of Facebook culture. While likes can boost engagement and signal value, chasing likes often derails authentic conversation.
By toggling your like privacy settings, you control what data to share publicly. Protect your privacy and self-esteem while maintaining control over how you interact with Facebook content.
Test configurations that meet your needs and align with your comfort level. Keep an eye on how these changes impact your news feed and overall experience.
Facebook’s platform evolves constantly. Stay up to date on new privacy and customization options that arise. With a few adjustments, you can optimize your feed’s content to maximize value.