X to Make Likes Private This Week, Post Author Can Still See Who Likes its Post

This week, X (formerly Twitter) is making Likes private for other users to see. In the lead-up to the big change on the platform, the company is breaking down who can see and access likes.

The ability to see the posts another user has liked is being removed thanks to this update. X Engineers claim that the change is being made to “better protect your privacy.” In a post, it’s explained that users will still be able to see posts you have liked. However, other users will be unable to see them.

The Like count and other metrics about Likes will still show up under notifications. However, you will no longer be able to see who liked someone else’s post. That being said, X will maintain the ability for a post author to see who liked its post.

It’s a very long-winded way to say that a post’s author will continue to see and access information regarding likes on their individual posts. However, other users won’t be able to see the activity of other users. Anecdotally, many users appear to be against the change. Many bring up the fact that the ability to hide liked posts is already available to X Premium subscribers. This ability has been available for premium users as of August 2023.

Last month, X’s director of engineering  Haofei Wang stated, “Public likes are incentivizing the wrong behavior. For example, many people feel discouraged from liking content that might be ‘edgy’ in fear of retaliation from trolls or to protect their public image.”

As of the time of writing, there’s no word on exactly when Likes will be made private. As of now, they are still accessible on both the web and on mobile.