Key Takeaways
- Your likes are now private on X, letting you engage without consequences.
- Total likes are visible, but the list of accounts is no longer available.
- The change is intended to let people like controversial posts without getting attacked.
If you follow your guilty pleasure on X (formerly Twitter) then there is some good news. You’ll soon be able to like all of Rick Astley’s posts (for example) without worrying about what other people might think.
That’s because X is rolling out a new update that hides all of your likes from public view. You can go around the site liking as many posts as you wish, and the only people who will know about it are you and the people whose posts you’re liking.
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This was already a feature for paid users. However, it’s rolling out to every user on the platform, whether they want it to or not. The feature is already live for some users, although currently, some people are still able to view likes as usual.
How does the new update work?
Likes are private but you can still see your own
Julian Christ / Unsplash
Up until now, you could click on the total number of likes beneath any post, and you’d see a list of every account that had liked it. The new update means that it will no longer be possible to see this list; all of the details of who has liked a post are now private.
In addition, the Likes tab on user profiles is being removed. This tab allowed anyone to see a public list of all the posts that you’d liked. With this new update, this will no longer be possible for any user.
Some things aren’t changing, however. You’ll still see the total number of likes a post has received beneath the post, you just won’t be able to see the accounts that liked it. You’ll also still be able to see all of the accounts that have liked your own posts.
Why has this feature been added?
To protect people’s freedom, obviously
Why does any change happen on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter these days? Because Elon says so. The move is intended to let people like any posts that they wish, without worrying about who might find out.
In his own post on X, the tech billionaire stated that it was ‘”important to allow people to like posts without getting attacked for doing so!”
Important to allow people to like posts without getting attacked for doing so!
The reality is that it means people are far more likely to like controversial or NSFW posts, safe in the knowledge that they’re not going to get called out for doing so.
Can I turn this feature off?
Currently, this is an irreversible change
For a site that’s supposedly all about freedom of speech and freedom of expression, there’s remarkably little freedom of choice. Instead of allowing users to decide whether or not they’re happy for other people to see their likes, the feature has been turned off for all users, and there’s currently no way to turn it back on.
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For many users, the freedom to like posts that many could consider controversial without anyone finding out may be appealing. However, the person who created the post can still see a list of everyone who has liked it, so your likes are still not completely private.
For other users who used public likes to help them find other accounts to follow or other posts that they would enjoy, the freedom to use the app as they always have has been taken away.
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