X makes likes (mostly) private for everyone

This move is aimed at allowing users, including public figures, to like posts without fear of backlash.

Elon Musk, the company's chief, emphasized that this change is crucial for users to "like posts without getting attacked for doing so."

Previously, X introduced the ability to hide the likes tab as a perk for X Premium subscribers, promoting it with the tagline "[K]eep spicy likes private." However, starting this week, likes will be private for everyone, as revealed by the X Engineering account in a recent tweet.

Under the new system, users will no longer be able to see who liked someone else's post. This means that public figures will no longer face PR crises over liking controversial or inappropriate content. Users will still be able to see who liked their own tweets, along with their like count and other metrics for their posts.

This change impacts X's subscription model, which had been adjusted to address financial challenges following a significant drop in advertising revenue last year. The platform introduced two new tiers for its subscription service: the Premium+ tier at $16 per month, which removes ads from timelines, and a cheaper $3 per month tier without the blue checkmark.