X to make 'likes' private and remove Likes tab from profiles

Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, has confirmed plans to make "likes" on users' profile pages private.

This change, later confirmed by X engineers, follows the discovery by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris of a hidden flag in X's iOS app that reveals the forthcoming update. When the flag is turned off, it removes the "Likes" tab from all user profiles.

Haofei Wang, X's director of engineering, confirmed the move, stating that public likes often encourage undesirable behavior and deter users from liking "edgy" content due to fear of backlash or concerns about their public image.

Public likes are incentivizing the wrong behavior,

Wang explained.

Soon you'll be able to like without worrying who might see it.

He added that liking more posts would improve the "For you" algorithm.

Enrique Barragan, X's senior software engineer, clarified that users will still be able to see who liked their posts and the total like counts. The change will only hide which posts other users have liked, resulting in the removal of the Likes tab on public profiles.

While X Premium subscribers have had the option to hide the Likes tab, this update will make the feature universal. The exact rollout date is not yet specified, but once implemented, all users, including owner Elon Musk, will be able to like posts privately without public visibility.