Even if you have your account private on X, formerly known as Twitter, there are still ways people can snoop at your engagements and could even land you in trouble. Such is the situation with likes, wherein your followers can see which posts you might agree with.
Likes Might Become Private Soon
Some users on the microblogging platform are careful about the things they "like" since anyone can view them, especially if their accounts are public. There's no option to hide them except for X Premium subscribers willing to pony up $8 a month.
Luckily for them, the option has been around for a while, but those who do not want to pay for a monthly subscription will have to endure their publicized engagements. It goes without saying that this can be risky, especially for public figures who aim to protect their reputations.
X's Director of Engineering, Haofei Wang said in a post that the company is making things private, as per Gizmodo. "Public likes are incentivizing the wrong behavior," he mentioned, and that people are discouraged from liking content that might be "edgy," in fear of retaliation.
"Soon you'll be able to like without worrying who might see it.," Wang added. Further adding to the point, users can see that Musk liked this post, which could signify that the change is indeed coming to the platform even for non-subscribers.
There are already several instances that show how badly this feature is needed, especially for public figures like politicians or celebrities who may have certain fancies that other people would immediately judge.
Senator Ted Cruz, for instance, was called out for apparently liking adult content on the platform. He later explained that it was not him but an employee who liked the post and that it was not happening again.
The X owner himself, Elon Musk, has been burned by the feature many times over. It certainly revealed Musk's perception toward transgenders. For instance, he liked a meme making fun of Dr. Antony Fauci, a trans activist.
It was already revealed back in 2022 that Musk liked an anti-trans post from Libs, who is known for his TikTok account and his right-wing views. It goes without saying that Musk would definitely benefit from the kind of privacy hidden likes would provide.
Musk Could Stand to Hide Other Engagements
Although hiding likes would mean that Musk would get into less trouble, the tech billionaire still finds himself in difficult situations for his activities on X. After all, it's not just the posts that he likes that do him in. It's also the posts and replies that he publishes.
He is known for saying whatever comes to mind, whether or not it will result in consequences for him or his companies. His reply agreeing to an antisemitic post, for instance, massively cost the social media company as advertisers left X.
The mass exodus was a troubling consequence given that X's main source of revenue is through its sales ads. It's not just random clients as well, as it were company giants like Apple, Warner Bros. Discovery, and many more who exited the platform.
