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> Users will be forced into a new dilemma: Enable likes and accept the 'social media pressure', or announce to everyone that they harbor some sort of insecurity about their social media status by turning them off.

Isn't that just for your own view? Others will still see the likes I'm assuming?

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It appears that this setting controls cross-account like visibility on posts:

"Even if a user has Like Counts enabled, they will not be able to see the number of likes on accounts or posts that have hidden them."

Sounds like the perfect solution if you want to say "we are releasing features that support a healthy usage of the our app", and at the same time make sure no one uses these features!

FWIW Casey Newton posted a writeup- they ran trials for a couple years and the response was polarized (some loved it, some hated it) and they couldn’t find any clear indicator that it was healthier for people.

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