Cardi B Speaks on Instagram Hiding Likes, Says Comments Section Is More Harmful

Cardi B has message for the Instagram team: If you want to improve the platform, start with the comments section—not the “likes.”

On Friday, Instagram’s CEO Adam Mosseri announced the company would begin testing hidden ‘like’ counts in the U.S. as soon next week. The test, which has already rolled out in countries like Brazil, Japan, Italy, and Canada, is part of Instagram’s efforts to make the app more positive, and less of a competition.

Like many of you, Cardi had some thoughts on the prospect of hidden likes. According to her, there are much bigger problems plaguing the platform. 

“It’s a big ruckus right now that the likes on Instagram are getting taken away,” she said in a Friday night Instagram post. “… This is my opinion on it, right? So from the beginning of Instagram, we had likes. And I feel like in the beginning of Instagram, everything was so fun, people wanted to post their pictures, get likes … where I think that Instagram got a little nasty, and it just took a weird turn, was when people started to like the comments, when they were allowed to like comments or reply back to somebody’s comments.”

Cardi reiterated a longstanding concern over the toxicity that lives within the comments section. She pointed out that many people, a.k.a. trolls, will post triggering comments simply to garner reactions. And as time goes by, the messages become increasingly offensive.

“That’s when I feel like when people started sayin’ nasty things … somebody would just say something so vile because … they want comments back,” she continued. “Some people don’t have a life … I see a lot of people dedicate they time into sayin’ some of the craziest, most absurd shit on comments, just for likes and comments back. And I feel like that’s what’s messing up Instagram.”

Cardi also recognized that the comments section has kept some users from expressing their views, as they don’t want to risk getting attacked because they had a different opinion. 

“If anything is affecting Instagram right now, it’s the way the comments have been done or have been changing these past few years,” the rapper said. “I feel people been sayin’ the most weirdest shit, been starting the craziest arguments, been starting to race bait … because they want to get to the top, they want to get the most reactions. And that’s what I feel: The comments effect more than the likes.”

You can watch Cardi’s full video below.