Why hide likes, followers, and other vanity metrics?

Because they condition us to prioritize the wrong things.

The number of likes, followers, views, etc. someone has strongly influences how we perceive them. Lots of likes? Oh, they must be important/successful/cool. Few likes? Maybe not so much. We end up evaluating people based on popularity rather than substance.

As a result, we become sensitive to these metrics when we express ourselves online. Sharing our thoughts and lives on social media takes on a performative element that encourages us to care too much about what other people think.

Hide Likes aims to reverse that conditioning.

By hiding your own likes and followers, you can focus on sharing yourself authentically rather than getting external validation.

By hiding others' likes and followers, you can avoid comparing yourself to others and become a more independent thinker by using your own judgment rather than defaulting to what everyone else thinks.

In the beginning, the absence of all those metrics may feel strange and inconvenient. You'll notice just how much we've come to rely on them. But stick with it, and you'll discover that you're better off without them.