Further to our recent post on ‘WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE ABOUT LIKES BEING TAKEN AWAY ON INSTAGRAM?’ reports this week are rife on the internet that Facebook is testing removing the likes, reactions AND video views in certain regions this week, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Ireland.

In case you didn’t already know, Australia & NZ are often testing ground for Facebook & other software giants for new features and in this case, the trialling of taking features away, as they are less populous markets, yet have high levels of internet penetration and use of online tools.

According to news reports, the Facebook removals of likes/reactions & video views test will apply to posts from users and pages, as well as ads across Facebook.

Facebook have issued a statement confirming this too:

“We are running a limited test where like, reaction, and video view counts are made private across Facebook. We will gather feedback to understand whether this change will improve people’s experiences,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement to one media outlet.

So how will this proposed change work?

Similarly to Instagram’s test, it will say “[name of user] and others” under the Facebook post where likes and reactions would normally appear. The owner of the account can click to check numbers and names, but the audience won’t be able to see these stats. It will simply display as Instagram now does with one or two names and ‘others’.

So how do we feel about this?

Now that most people have got over the initial shock of having their likes taken away on Instagram (especially the influencers who were the main culprits for throwing their toys!) most people are predicting that the removal of likes, reactions and views on Facebook won’t be as big of a big deal given most influencers are more often than not Instagram users, preferring Facebook as a secondary amplification of their content.