X Hides Likes From Public Profiles

X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, started hiding likes from users’ public profiles on Wednesday, following owner Elon Musk’s announcement. Musk confirmed the platform would automatically hide users’ likes, emphasizing the importance of allowing people to like posts without facing backlash. This change was revealed by Musk on Tuesday afternoon in a post on X, shortly after The Verge reported that the platform was rolling out private likes. On Wednesday, users encountered a pop-up notification stating, “We are making Likes private for everyone to better protect your privacy.”

Haofei Wang, X’s director of engineering, announced on May 21 that the platform would implement this switch. Wang explained that public likes were encouraging undesirable behavior and discouraging users from liking “edgy” content due to fear of retaliation or concerns about their public image. Enrique Barragan, a senior software engineer at X, clarified that while users could still see like counts and who liked their posts, they would no longer be able to see the people who liked another user’s post or other users’ liked tabs. Previously, Musk had allowed paid users to hide their likes as an incentive, while others still had a public-facing “likes” page.

Since acquiring X in October 2022 for $44 billion, Musk has implemented numerous changes. He temporarily removed headlines from news articles posted on the platform, urging journalists to post content directly on X. He rebranded Twitter as X, aiming to transform it into the “everything app” he envisioned. Additionally, Musk removed the ability to block users and introduced a premium plan offering more customization options. Post-acquisition, Musk faced significant advertiser departures, which reduced revenue amid concerns over brand safety, inconsistent policies, and technical issues.

Elon Musk’s net worth is estimated at $211 billion, making him the world’s wealthiest person. The decision to hide all users’ likes follows X’s policy change a week earlier, allowing pornography on the platform. The update permits consensually produced adult content, provided it is properly labeled and not prominently displayed. Twitter had previously allowed porn, and in 2022, Reuters reported that adult content constituted about 13% of Twitter’s content.