Major social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, is on the cusp of a significant change. According to a company insider, X is about to roll out a feature that will hide the number of likes a post receives by default. This move comes after X’s owner, Elon Musk, has repeatedly expressed a desire to move away from the traditional like-based metrics that have long defined social media engagement.

The news broke earlier today when a source at X revealed the imminent launch of “private likes.” This feature, currently available only to X’s premium subscribers, will soon become the standard for all users. Interestingly, shortly after this story was published, Elon Musk himself shared a screenshot on the platform, endorsing the idea. “It’s important to allow people to like posts without getting attacked for doing so!” he declared.

This shift aligns with comments made just a few weeks ago by X’s director of engineering, Haofei Wang. Wang explained that the upcoming change is intended to safeguard users’ public personas. He acknowledged that the current system discourages users from engaging with “edgy” content for fear of social repercussions.

The update will also do away with the dedicated “Likes” tab on user profiles. While users will still be able to see who liked their own posts and the overall like count for their content, they will no longer be able to see who liked other users’ posts. This information, according to X senior software engineer Enrique Barragan, will be hidden from view. Barragan’s recent online activity also hinted at a potential launch today, further fueling speculation.

“Soon you’ll be able to like without worrying who might see it,” Wang remarked last month, foreshadowing the upcoming change.

This move follows Elon Musk’s vision for the platform. In late 2022, Musk reportedly directed X’s engineers to consider the complete removal of action buttons like “like” and “retweet.” His aim, according to a source at the time, was to prioritize post views, also known as impressions. Musk believed that likes held little value and sought to eliminate the entire section that housed these buttons.

“The whole social media landscape is moving away from like counts,” the source explained, “so this makes sense. But there’s also a part of me that thinks [Musk] just wants to further distance himself from the Twitter of the past.”

While the impact of this change remains to be seen, it undoubtedly marks a significant shift for X. The platform is moving away from a system that has long been ingrained in social media culture, potentially altering how users interact and engage with content.