Facebook-owned Instagram is removing its Following tab, the activity feed which displays what posts friends are liking, commenting on and following. The tab is going away from the app with an update later this week, BuzzFeedNews reported. Instagram's head Adam Mosseri confirmed the move in a tweet.
Instagram is set to expand the test of hiding likes from posts on the network to more countries, with the US next in line. Instagram is currently hiding likes on posts in Canada, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand as part of its expanding test to not put a number to how popular (or the perception of popularity) a social media post may be. In fact, the very act of using third-party apps and tools to buy likes was becoming a rampant problem on Instagram, which effectively hid the genuine interaction and interaction with a post.