Likes On Twitter Private Now —Good or Bad?

Yes, it finally happened. Years ago Elon Musk spoke about the possibility of removing likes from the Twitter X stream.

It’s not that likes on Twitter have been removed from the site. However, they will not show it to anyone else but you.

The likes you have hit today with the heart are private on Twitter X.

Private Likes

The start of private likes on Twitter began on June 12, 2024. It was posted on X Elon Musk:

This week we’re making Likes private for everyone to better protect your privacy. — You will still be able to see posts you have liked (but others cannot). — Like count and other metrics for your own posts will still show up under notifications. — You will no longer see who liked someone else’s post. — A post’s author can see who liked its posts.

Private Likes — Keeping Users Safe From Harassment

According to another user’s post that Elon shared:

You will still be able to see posts you have liked (but others cannot).

Like count and other metrics for your own posts will still show up under notifications

You will no longer see who liked someone else’s post.

A post’s author can see who liked its posts.

Years ago I suffered the wrath of someone upset over a like I made on Facebook. I stopped posting on my profile or engaging with anyone there afterward.

I continue to use my Facebook business page but don’t engage in anything political or on social issues of the day.

What Does This Mean For Your Social Media Proof?

Will your social proof go down if no one knows how many likes your posts received?

That could have a small impact on the social proof of posts on X but the engagement and retweets are more important.

However, X will calculate the invisible likes in its algorithm. You will see a notification for the total number of likes on your Twitter X posts.

However, beware if there is there is ever a leak.

You read about them from time to time, and some people are unfortunate when their private info is stolen.

Privacy Online Is An Ironic Statement

I always tell people not to share anything that they would not want everyone to see online.

You never know when there is a security breach or if something like a private account or group becomes public.

So think before you post, give something a thumbs up, or comment on anything you read on social media or online.

Conclusion: Private Likes of X

I was happy to see this come about on X as there is more news and political content with many social advocates sharing things more as we head into November.

I don’t think knowing who likes what matters, it is more about what they share and how they engage with you on social media or life offline.

Lastly, I feel the recent move is a way to achieve peace on the popular social media platform. Let’s hope so.

Are you glad they removed the visibility of likes on Twitter? Has it changed your Twitter feed and the posts you see more often?