The world of social media is going private in this era. The current news on privacy is about X, formerly Twitter makes its users likes private. This means that other users would not know what and who liked what.
According to the company, the initiative is to serve the interest of its users. That it will protect their privacy on the app. Also, the more a user likes content on the space, the more the algorithms get to know the kind of contents they want. In so doing, they get to see more of the stuff they like.
“We are making Likes private for everyone to better protect your privacy. Liking more posts will make your ‘For you’ feed better,” says X. When you click on the Likes in an attempt to see which user has liked a particular post, the feedback is “Nothing to see here – yet.”
A screenshot of the feedback one gets in an attempt to views users of likes for a particular content
When you post on X, you can see the number of likes in your notifications. However, you can’t see the one who tapped on the heart icon.
Elon Musk, after buying the platform in 2022 has made a lot of adjustments. One of the notable adjustments this year is the change in policy for the app to officially allow adult content after years of taking a laissez-faire approach to porn.
There have been several instances where famous people have liked content on Twitter, now X and faced backlash. One notable example is the case of Kevin Hart. In 2018, old tweets from Hart containing homophobic remarks resurfaced after he was announced as the host of the 2019 Academy Awards. Although not directly related to liking content, the controversy is similar in that it involved a social media activity that came back to haunt him.
Another example is Chrissy Teigen, who faced backlash after old tweets and likes that were considered bullying resurfaced. These actions led to significant criticism and affected her public image and partnerships.
These incidents illustrate how tweets and likes can have significant repercussions for users of X, and social media in general.
Do you think the privacy for Likes is a good initiative by X?