You Can Now Hide Post Like Counts on Your Instagram Feed

Instagram has just announced that it is giving its users the option to hide like counts of posts on feeds they follow.  The decision came after testing the feature since 2019.

Instagram also allows us, its users, to choose whether we want to see the Like counts on others’ posts. You will also be able to turn off Like counts on your own posts if you want to.

According to the news online, the company wants to make their users' experience more pleasant, without the pressure that "Likes" and similar reactions usually cause. 

In a blog post, Instagram and Facebook admit that people have different views on like counts - some are bothered by them, while others use the count to know what is trending and popular online.  That is why they give their users a choice.  The company hopes that this option will allow us to focus more on our photos and content from other users.  

You can hide like counts on others’ posts through the new Posts section in Settings. This control applies to all the posts in your feed.  You can also hide like counts before sharing a post and turn it on or off anytime.  These controls will also come to Facebook "in the weeks to come."

I don't really mind how many likes or reactions my posts on Instagram and Facebook receive. I'm just happy posting and sharing my photos and activities.  But some people I know actually ask their friends to like their posts! I think it gives them fulfillment to see the little red hearts on their posts. 

The downside to this is it could lead to issues with one's self-esteem.  A friend once told me that one of her kids felt sad when their vacation photos didn't get many likes.

For some, however, they capitalize on these metrics to gain popularity and monetize their activities.  It really boils down to individual preferences and purpose. 

What people did to waste time before the Internet

I recently came across this funny comic strip fromNitrozac and Snoggy on the The Joy of Tech website and I'm sure you will also find it amusing.  I belong to the generation that did not have Internet when we were younger and many of the things that today's generation find commonplace were not available to us.

We didn't have email, YouTube, Google or even MMPORPG. But we did have snail mail, TV, the library and outdoor games with which we spend most of our idle time.  And as the comic underneath many of our activities involved thinking and physical exertion.  Enjoy and for more tech related cartoon, visit joyoftech.com! 

Severe Thunderstorms down Instagram, Pinterest

Thanks to Mother Nature two of my favorite  web sites went down today.

Severe thunderstorms in North Virginia caused an outage to the Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud, which took down Instagram, Pinterest, Netflix and other cloud based sites.  

Although the sites have a local hub here in Asia, it appears that all services are still routed to North America. Hence, this problem. 

I tried loading some pictures on Instagram and either I waited for eternity for the site to come up or I just got pieces of it.  Netizens expressed their frustrations on Twitter and and the affected companies also took to social networking sites to send their messages that they're having some technical problems and were fixing it.  

It's not the first time that Amazon's cloud server was affected by outages due to weather. Many tech experts are beginning to worry that this may lead some industries to have second thoughts on embracing the cloud technology.

Social Networking on Trial

Facebook, the largest online social network was in the local news last week when a 13-year old boy shot a 16-year old boy inside a mall in a fit of jealousy.  The name of the site was dragged into the case because allegedly, the young gunman wrote on his page his intent to do harm to his lover.

This is not the first time that Facebook has been blamed for a crime committed here.  A few months back, a young woman was killed after meeting with a Facebook contact in her apartment.  After that, a celebrity was seriously wounded after a tryst with a contact from the same social networking site.  Both victims have never met their contacts before and they only knew them through the site.

from google.com

I am just surprised that in each case, authorities dragged Facebook in the case like it's its fault that these crimes happened.  Instead at looking at the behavior of the perpetrators and their victims, they quickly turn the site into a scapegoat.

I use Facebook and other social networking sites like Twitter, Plurk, Multiply, etc.  The only thing that I can say to fellow users is to treat these virtual communities as different as possible to the real world.  One can easily create a profile on these sites and that's where the danger lies:  your friend may not be who and what he claims to be,  So exercise caution.

PLDT myDSL’s Internet to Sawa TRANSFORMS my Internet experience from boring to AWESOME!

There was a time when Internet browsing meant waiting for a long time before the website I am visiting fully loads.  With the advent of PLDT DSL, the entire Internet experience changed with webpages loading faster than saying, well, Internet.

Now, PLDT myDSL is set to take an extra ordinary transformation for their users through PLDT myDSL Internet to Sawa starting this month.  Plan 3000 subscribers will get a free and unlimited speed boost of up to 5Mbps from their previous 3Mbps.   Everyone can now surf, stream, download and play games online up to sawa!

To complement this new online experience, PLDT myDSL subscribers will also get free WatchPad with more exclusive content plus one year of free PLDT to PLDT NDD calls.  If doesn't transform your life, I don't what will!

It's like my transformation from just another blogger to a Nuffnanger.  While I used to be limited to writing about everyday stuff, after joining Nuffnang I got more stuff to write about.  What more, I get to meet lots of interesting fellow bloggers who share the same passion to share things to the world.

If you want to transform your online life and surf all you want at awesome speeds, head over to and visit www.myworldmydsl.com for more information or call 171 to confirm your subscripstion today!