“We have tested a new experience to hide preferences on … messages,” a spokesman for Facebook (FB), who owns Instagram, told CNN Business. “We inadvertently added more people to the test today, which was a mistake. We are working to resolve this issue and restore such scores as soon as possible.”
Several users reported seeing the change on their profiles Tuesday, with the number of likes being replaced by the phrase “and others.”
Instagram has been doing limited testing on the change for years – in 2019, the company said it would begin removing the likes of a limited number of accounts in Canada. Instagram has not provided a timeline for when it expects the hidden preferences to roll out widely.
Although followers could not see the total number of likes who received a message, the owner of the account could still, Instagram said at the time. Users can click to see a complete list of the accounts that like the message, but they can not see a number that shows how many people like it.
Instagram described the move as a way to reduce pressure to collect likes on the platform. Likes, which appear as hearts on Instagram, are often used as a measure of popularity.
CNN Business’ Kaya Yurieff contributed to this report.