Boyfriends everywhere breathe a sigh of relief..

Instagram has never been one to just rest on it’s laurels. Remember when the company rebranded their logo and everyone hated it? Well, look at the old logo now and it does look a wee bit dated. Regardless, my point is that the company is always evolving its app. With rumours circulating that Instagram is testing out a version of the app where likes are hidden, Instagram will actually remove a feature off the app this week. However, influencers everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief because it’s the “following” feature and not “likes” (for now, at least).

In case you didn’t know, the “following” feature can currently be found inside the heart icon, right next to the “You” tab. The feature was introduced in 2011, and has been a mainstay ever since.

The feature however, is also the source of pain for girlfriends and boyfriends everywhere. The thing is, not many people actually know that you can view the activity of the people you’re following and Instagram head of product Vishal Shah confirmed that it’s part of the reason the company is getting rid of it.

“People didn’t always know that their activity is surfacing. So you have a case where it’s not serving the use case you built if for, but it’s also causing people to be surprised when their activity is showing up,”

So lets just say for example, you’re a dude and you like a couple of pictures on your friends profile. Your friend happens to be a girl. You then head out to meet your girlfriend. When you show up, she’s already mad at you for what is seemingly no apparent reason. After an hour of pointless back and forth she finally goes “Ay yo Josh who tf is dat b**** Samantha eh?” and all you can think to yourself is how on earth your girlfriend even knows all of this?!?! Well.. yeah.

RIP “Following” feature. You won’t be missed.