Social media engagement is one major driving force for almost all brands when it comes to content creation.
Everything that you see on various social media platforms is strategically designed to attract your attention, posted at specific times of the day when you are expected to be browsing your mobile phones.
On Facebook, there’s one measurement almost everybody cares about.
Likes.
And, in this guide, we take a look at how to hide Facebook likes and see if there are any secret benefits to doing so.
What do brands expect from you?
Of course, content creators will expect either one of the three primary forms of social media engagement: likes, comments, and shares.
Social media managers live for these engagements as it will validate that they are doing something right to promote a brand.
Interestingly, it is not just the brands that passionately pursue likes, comments, and shares. These kinds of engagements have also made an impact on the lives of social media users and it is the kind that is not always ideal.
Social media users and there are many of them, also seek validation through social media engagement. When they get hundreds of likes, a couple of shares, and a series of comments, they feel very special and significant. As can be expected, the exact opposite may result in some mental health issues, including anxiety and depression.
Facebook, specifically, has been actively creating initiatives to help improve the mental health condition of people using it. Some time ago, the platform introduced the “take a break” feature to help minimize the mental health struggles of multiple users. True enough, a lot of users opted to try out the new feature to minimize their anxiety.
Read more: When is the Best Time to Post on Facebook? (Not Lunch Time on Weekends)
Why Hide Facebook Likes?
The primary reason: it protects one’s mental health.
Teaching the present generation that social media engagement does not define who they are at all is very important. Some young people, for instance, think that when they do not get several likes, they are highly likely in trouble, no one likes the post, or simply because no one is interested.
A few likes may have a negative impact on your brand.
Having a minimal number of likes on Facebook could backfire, especially when your competitors see that your content does not appear to be a threat to them
Consumers may also interpret this as a decline in market interest. It may appear like our brand is no longer appealing to your target market, and they will highly likely move on to the next best brand unless they are truly loyal patrons.
People want to buy what’s popular and not go against the trend.
It can be used as ammunition against your brand.
Your competitors will not take it easy on you. They will automatically assume the brand is in trouble if they see very little social media engagement. It can be seen as a weakness, something that they can use to throw you off your guard.
Likes are not the ultimate measure of validation.
It is really quite disturbing to see a lot of content creators seeking validation on social media and reacting quite negatively when they do not get the kind of attention they want. Mostly, they measure validation through the number of likes they get in a post.
Viewers will focus more on the content.
When the number of likes is hidden, viewers can turn their attention more to the value of the content rather than how much people like it. They can decide for themselves if they genuinely like it and not be influenced by the number of likes they see.
Read More: How to Perform a Facebook Ad Audit & Replicate Results
How to Hide Facebook Likes
Hiding the likes of your content is easy. Just follow these simple steps.
STEP 1: Go to your Facebook application and click the “Menu” button.
STEP 2: Click the “Settings” icon.
STEP 3: Click “Reaction preferences” in the menu.
STEP 4: Turn on all the options.
Takeaways from Hiding Facebook Likes
Hiding Facebook likes may not necessarily apply to your brand and that is okay. This is just an option made available by Facebook just in case you may have a real need for it in the future.
Consider this option carefully and learn to foresee how it will impact your brand.
If you’re first starting out, it might be a good idea to hide Facebook Likes to make sure that your prospects aren’t turned off by your lack of engagement.
However, as you grow it would make sense to turn it on again.
The right decision is dependent on your growth rate and how you perceive yourself advancing.
What’s important?
That you continuously build engagement.
