Facebook照搬Instagram套路，隐藏贴文的“点赞数”

Facebook正在测试隐藏用户贴文收到的点赞数，数个月前公司在Instagram上也采取了类似的举措。

于澳大利亚开展的这项测试将同时隐藏点赞数量和视频播放数。在实施之后，这个数字依然对用户自身可见，但却无法与其他用户进行比较。Facebook并未披露是否会将该计划拓展至其他国家。

对于很多用户来说，点赞和播放数在过去几年中正变得越来越重要。这一功能已经催生出了一代影响力人物，他们通过吸引大量的粉丝来赚取高额回报。然而，它也助长了暴力和仇恨内容的疯狂传播，令Facebook感到头疼不已。同时，由于可以对比，人们称它也会让对比者“自惭形秽”。

Facebook最初是在4月举行的年度F8开发者大会上首次宣布在Instagram上测试隐藏点赞数。当时，Facebook称自己希望将重点放在自我表达方面而不是受欢迎程度。Instagram的测试最初在5月始于加拿大，然后拓展至爱尔兰、意大利、日本、巴西、澳大利亚和新西兰，这也意味着Facebook对初期结果十分满意。

但两名专家称，Facebook实际上并未解决这个问题，相反，它撤销了一个有助于打造社区感的重要工具。

社交媒体、心理学领域专家、南加州大学的传播学临床教授凯伦·诺斯说：“在Instagram和Facebook上隐藏点赞数是一把双刃剑。虽然此举是试图解决个人问题，但却消除了群体感。”

诺斯称，在数字世界，用户通过点赞数和播放量来寻找社交线索，从而了解当下的流行趋势。她还认为，如果人们无法看到点赞数，像冰桶挑战这样异常受欢迎的活动，以及宣传ALS（肌萎缩侧索硬化症）的社交媒体活动就很难有今天的影响力。

媒体心理学研究中心的主任帕姆拉·鲁特雷吉称，这项举措与人们相互比较的天性相违背，而这类比较也可以增加人们的幸福感。

她说：“让其他人的点赞数不可见并不能改变我们与他人对比的需求。我们将不得不以不同的方式来验证谁或什么内容才算有影响力。”

Facebook说，公司近些年正在努力改善其服务，从而为人们带来更多的幸福感和福祉。

Facebook福祉团队的研究人员称，他们发现，当用户在社交媒体上与他人相比处于不利地位时，他们的幸福感就会降低。因此，他们在过去几年中一直在解决这个问题，包括采用隐藏点赞数的方法，其目的是改善公司对个人自尊和幸福度的影响。（财富中文网）

译者：冯丰

审校：夏林

Facebook is testing hiding the number of likes users receive on their posts, following a similar move it made on Instagram months prior.

The test, which will hide both likes and video view counts, is being conducted in Australia. Affected users will still be able see their own numbers, but won’t be able to compare them to those of other users. The company has not disclosed whether it plans to expand the test to other countries.

Likes and views have become increasingly important to many users over the past several years. The capability has led to a generation of influencers, who make big money by attracting large followings. But it also has incentivized viral violent and hateful content—a problem Facebook has struggled to police—and has been cited as making people feel worse about themselves as a point of comparison.

Facebook first announced that it was testing hiding likes on Instagram at its annual F8 developer conference in April. During that time, it said that it wanted to place more emphasis on self-expression versus popularity. Instagram's test began in Canada in May and later expanded to Ireland, Italy, Japan, Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand—suggesting that Facebook was pleased with the initial results.

But two experts say Facebook is not actually solving the problem—rather it’s taking away an important tool that helps create a sense of community.

“Hiding likes on Instagram or Facebook is a double-edged sword,” says Karen North, an expert in social media and psychology and clinical professor of communication at the University of Southern California. “They’re trying to cure the problems of individuals but taking away the coming together of groups.”

North says that in a digital world, users look for social cues that include likes and view counts to understand what’s popular. She also argues that viral campaigns like the ice bucket challenge, a social media campaign that raised awareness for ALS, would not have been the same without the ability to see likes.

Pamela Rutledge, director of the Media Psychology Research Center, says the move goes against people’s nature to compare themselves to others, an activity that can also positively impact people’s happiness.

“Removing the likes that other people have doesn’t change our need to compare ourselves,” she said. “We will have to start looking for the validation of who or what’s important in different kinds of ways.”

Facebook has said in recent years it’s been working to improve how its service impacts people’s happiness and well-being.

Researchers who make up Facebook’s well-being team say that they have found users are less happy when they negatively compare themselves to others on social media. So they’ve spent the last few years working on problems including this one, aiming to improve the company’s impacts on people’s self-esteem and general happiness.