Elon Musk has announced a significant change on X (formerly Twitter): likes are now private. As of June 11, any posts you like will not be visible to others.
Announcement and Implementation
Elon Musk shared this update via an X post, explaining. This major change is designed to make your likes private.
Changes to User Profiles
To implement this, X has removed the likes tab from user profiles. Now, this tab will only be visible on your account profile. This means only you can access and see your liked posts, giving you more control over your interaction on the platform.
XÂ Background and Reasons
The idea for this change was first hinted at in May by X’s Director of Engineering, Haofei Wang. He explained that they removed the public likes feature from user profiles to make users feel more comfortable liking posts without concern about others seeing their activity. Public likes often make users hesitant to engage with content they enjoy.
Haofei Wang responded to a post on X, explaining that making likes private would encourage users to like content freely without any social pressure or fear of exposure. This change aims to foster a more authentic and stress-free interaction environment on the platform.
X Future Plans
This change is part of a series of modifications following Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. In March 2024, Musk mentioned plans to gradually remove like and retweet counts from the platform. Although the timeline for these changes is not yet clear, the recent update suggests that hiding like and retweet counts could be part of X’s future enhancements.
By focusing on user privacy and reducing the visibility of interactions, X aims to create a more personal and less performative space for users. This aligns with Musk’s broader vision for the platform, emphasizing user comfort and genuine engagement over metrics and public validation.
SUMMARY (X)
This update has significantly changed the management of social interactions on X. X is boldly prioritizing user privacy and easing the burden of social media engagement by making likes private. This change is supposed to energize legitimate cooperation and establish a more easy-to-use climate on the stage.
