Elon Musk's X is preparing to make likes private on the social network. This change may confuse users about the difference between favorites and bookmarks. The decision to hide likes is to encourage engagement and protect the company's social image by allowing people to like “edgy” content, according to a new post by a company employee. It is said that it is intended.
It's not clear whether this is the best solution to the problem that X is trying to solve, such as providing more signals to algorithms so that they can better personalize content to users' interests.
Here are some changes to private likes.
– See who liked your posts
– You can check the number of likes for all posts/reply etc.
– You can’t see who liked other people’s posts
– Other people’s likes tab is not displayed on my profile
— Enrique (@enriquebrgn) May 22, 2024
The change seems somewhat unnecessary, given that Company X, formerly known as Twitter, already had a private way to save posts on its platform: bookmarks. Bookmarks in X are meant to collect posts or threads you want to read later, but they also serve as a more private alternative to likes.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that users can see who liked their posts, as well as the number of likes on their own posts and replies. In other words, private likes are semi-private and only known by the poster, and the poster could theoretically make someone's likes public if they wanted to. If X is trying to encourage “extreme” engagement, for example liking posts featuring adult content or extreme political positions, people may still be hesitant to like that content, given that it is not a completely private system.
Instead, you may use X's bookmarks or external link storage tools to continue saving liked posts without the risk of them becoming public.
According to a post by an employee at You won't be able to. This may eliminate other users' snooping, but it also removes useful search functionality.
For example, if you've just joined X, you can view the “likes” of other users that you follow to get an idea of who you think they might find interesting or appealing. Or, if you're browsing another user's profile to decide if you want to follow them, you can use the “likes” to get an idea of what kind of content they're generally interested in.
I go to the likes tabs of people I respect and find great content that I wouldn't have seen otherwise. Perhaps the option to turn off likes is best?
— Redhead Liberal (@TRHLofficial) May 22, 2024
The real problem with likes is that the feature has changed the meaning of what was once a bookmarking feature. The feature was more like a “favourites” than a support signal before it was rebranded from stars to heart icons, as was the trend at the time. Users could theoretically “favorite” anything, since doing so does not imply that they actually enjoy or agree with the content.
Rather, it may be something they simply documented. A statement by a politician that you disagreed with heavily but wanted to remember. A post that required further research. A post that you were collecting to build a collection for later. moment (RIP), a billionaire's most upsetting or ridiculous post, etc. No one can reasonably accuse you of “liking” that content because you didn't click the heart icon, creating room for plausible deniability.
Users were furious when Twitter changed from stars to hearts. They understood that the heart conveys a completely different meaning, which affects how they use social networks.
“A 'like' is limited in the scope of what a user can express,” TechCrunch wrote at the time, noting that the favorite feature could mean a variety of things, including “a thank you, a handshake, a hat-off, or even a Robert De Niro glare.” TechCrunch noted at the time that the change from stars to hearts didn't solve Twitter's larger problem of growing its user base and boosting engagement, and in fact it hardly did. The company needed to find an exit strategy amid flat growth quarter after quarter.
Following backlash against the change, Twitter later introduced the bookmarks feature, bringing back a way to privately save something, like a post you didn't necessarily agree with or intend to refer back to.
Now, many users are expressing their disappointment as X is changing the Likes-related functionality again. X offers a variety of alternatives to this proposed change, including making likes private as an option rather than the default, and leaving likes anonymously by long-pressing the heart icon. ing. Others have warned that making likes private could lead to manipulation as creators hire legions of bots to promote their content and generate revenue.
LOL, now it's harder to track the bot. Nice work. 🙃
— Luna (@ImLunaHey) May 22, 2024
There are other solutions as well. That was hinted at by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. I don't agree with much of what Dorsey has been saying lately (e.g. that Nostr is the future of social, that Bluesky is a kind of censorship platform), but when it comes to the Likes and Stars debate, what does he say? I am aware of this.
Dorsey wrote in the X post: “'Like'/❤️ was originally ⭐️. We should never have left that.”
His post has received over 700 likes and numerous replies in agreement with his opinion.
If X's goal is to provide more signals to its algorithms rather than more privacy around user engagement features, then there's no need to hide the “likes” — simply changing the heart icon to a star would be a less dramatic change while accomplishing the same goal.
Yes, I keep my likes private.
Public liking encourages the wrong behavior: for example, many people hesitate to like potentially “edgy” content for fear of retaliation from trolls or to protect their public image.
Soon you'll be able to do this without likes… https://t.co/vPGllc4pB0
— Haofei (@wanghaofei) May 22, 2024