When Instagram first announced it would test hiding likes in 2019, the potential removal of this popularity metric risked hurting the livelihood of social media personalities building followings and businesses on the app. But the impact to creators and business accounts wasn’t as bad as feared, according to internal data from Instagram’s parent company Facebook, now known as Meta Platforms. 

“We do not see a decline in connected reach for large accounts, and while people consume Explore media -0.4% less, we don’t see any impact on creator production,” Facebook wrote in a February 2020 report focused on its test to hide likes, which was dubbed Project Daisy.