After previously concealing likes in seven other countries, CEO Adam Mosseri said Instagram will follow suit for its American-based users. Only happening on a trial-basis, Mosseri said the social media service seeks to reduce the competition aspect of the platform. 

“It’s about young people,” Mosseri said at a Wired event in San Francisco Nov. 8. “The idea is to try to depressurize Instagram, make it less of a competition [and] give people more space to focus on connecting with people.” 

The tally of likes one receives will only disappear from public view, Mosseri added, with the user still being able to view how many likes they garnered on a respective post. 

There was no notion, made by Mosseri or Instagram representatives, that removing likes permanently is a possibility in the near future.

Commenting on the possibility her likes could be hidden in the coming days, senior Rachel Lyle, who has 2,271 followers on Instagram, said it wouldn’t bother her. 

“Honestly, it wouldn’t affect me that much because I don’t see [Instagram] as a comparison,” Lyle said. “I will still see the likes even though other people don’t [and] I don’t care what they think of me.”

A regular user of Instagram, Lyle said the test trial might return Instagram to its former glory, where one could share as they pleased without worrying over like totals. 

“I think that the benefits definitely outweigh the negatives,” Lyle said. “It’s not so much of a comparison anymore and it’s more like you can post whatever you want without having to feel like ‘oh if you don’t get enough likes and you’re not as good as everybody else.’”