Technology

If their post has lots of Likes, you feel jealous. If your post doesn&t get enough Likes, you feel embarrassed. And when you just chase Likes, you distort your life seeking moments that score them, or censor it fearing you won&t look popular without them.

Thatwhy Facebook is officially starting to hide Like counts on posts, first in Australia starting tomorrow, September 27th. A postauthor can still see the count, but ithidden from everyone else who will only be able to see who but now how many people gave a thumbs-up or other reaction.

The launch of the hidden Like counts test makes available what we reported Facebook was privately prototyping earlier this month, as spotted in its Android code by reverse engineering master Jane Manchun Wong. The test will run in parallel to Instagramown hidden Like count test we also scooped that first tested in Canada in April before expanding to six more countries in July.

&We are running a limited test where like, reaction, and video view counts are made private across Facebook& a Facebook spokesperson tells me. &We will gather feedback to understand whether this change will improve peopleexperiences.& If the test improves peoplesense of well-being without tanking user engagement, it could expand to more countries or even roll out to everyone, but no further tests are currently scheduled.

Facebookgoal here is to make people comfortable expressing themselves. It wants users to focus on the quality of what they share and how it connects them with people they care about, not just the number of people who hit the thumbs-up. The tests are being conducted by the News Feed team that falls under VP Fidji Simojurisdiction over the main Facebook app. While the Instagram tests are starting to get data back, Facebook tells me itown tests are necessary since the apps are so different.

As you can see, the Like button itself remains visible to everyone. Comment counts will still be displayed, as will the most common types of reactions left on a post plus the faces and names of some people who Liked it. Technically viewers could go into the list of people who Liked a post and try to count, but the test stops Facebook from slapping people up front with insecurity.

Without a big number on friends& posts that could make users feel insignificant, or a low number on their own posts announcing their poor reception, users might feel more carefree on Facebook. The removal could also reduce herd mentality, encouraging users to decide for themselves if they enjoyed a post rather than just blindly clicking to concur with everyone else.

As I wrote about 2 years ago, a collection of studies identify the harm Facebook can do. They found that while chatting with friends and comment threads on Facebook made people feel better, passively scrolling and Liking could lead to envy spiraling and declines in perception of well-being. Users would compare their seemingly boring life to the well-Liked glamorous moments shared by friends or celebrities and conclude they were lesser.

For example, Krasanova et al discovered that 20% of the envy-inducing moments users experienced in life were on Facebook, and that &intensity of passive following is likely to reduce users& life satisfaction in the long-run, as it triggers upward social comparison and invidious emotions.&

One concern is that Facebook Pages that have large followings and often get more Likes than individual users& posts could miss out on extra engagement and reach without that herd mentality. Some Canadian influencers have complained about reduced reach since the hidden Likes test launched their on Instagram, but therebeen no conclusive data to prove that and Facebook will still use the number of Likes as part of its ranking algorithm.

If Facebook wants to build a social network people continue using for another 15 years, it has to put their well-being first — above brands, above engagement, and above ad dollars. It also needs better controls for notifications and warnings when you&ve been passively scrolling for too long. But if the Like hiding works and eventually becomes standard, it could help Facebook get back to the off-the-cuff sharing that made it a hit at colleges so long ago. No one wants to be in a life-long popularity contest.

Snapchat never had Likes. Come see my interview with Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegelat TechCrunch Disrupt SF (Oct 2nd-4th —tickets here) to learn more about how social networks are adapting to growing mental health concerns.

Tesla is rolling out a new software update that adds a slew of new features to its cars. These include the new &Smart Summon& feature, which will allow cars equipped with the optional $5,000 full-self driving package to automatically drive themselves from a parking spot to collect you in a parking lot.

This is one of the most advanced semi-self-driving features that Tesla has yet released to the general public, and the company still says you should use it only in lots and when you have a clear view of your car. The company also notes that you&re ultimately responsible for the vehicle, so definitely be aware of whatgoing on with the car and its surroundings if you&re planning to use this one — and you can stop the car remotely should you feel the need to. Smart Summon has been out in a limited preview beta for some customers, but now itgoing to be rolling out to all vehicles that have purchased the FSD option.

Other new features included in this update include the much-requested native Spotify support, which is available to all Spotify Premium account-holders across all markets where itavailable. That should go a long way toward satisfying Tesla owners who have been less than satisfied with playing audio via Bluetooth from this extremely popular streaming music option. In China, Tesla is also rolling out Ximalaya, a podcast and audiobook streaming service.

Tesla Theater Mode, also new in version 10.0, connects your infotainment system to your Netflix, YouTube and Hulu/Hulu+ (including Live TV if you&re subscribed to that feature) accounts, giving you access to streaming video from all these platforms while the car is safely in park. In China, the automaker is also adding IQiyi and Tencent Video, and it says it&ll be adding more options globally &over time& to supplement these offerings. The new Theater Mode will also provide access to Tesla vehicle tutorials for owners to watch in-car (again, only while parked).

A lot of these updates focus on entertainment options, including the new &Car-aoke& mode, which, as you might have guessed, adds an in-car karaoke experience that includes a &massive& library of music and lyrics, Tesla says, with multiple languages supported. Singing along on road-trips has long gotten by with low-tech options only, but official support might encourage more amateur James Cordens.

Last but not least for new entertainment features, therethe launch of the Cuphead port on Tesla Arcade, the in-car gaming software Tesla launched earlier this year. Cuphead is a cult smash hit indie game, with an iconic art style reminiscent of early Disney animation, and this is definitely a nod to Teslacore geek audience (and probably a treat for the Musk man himself). Again, this is only available while parked, in case you were worried about distracted driving.

Tesla also added some new navigation features that suggest interesting restaurants and sightseeing opportunities along your way, which could result in some more interesting spontaneous adventures. Therealso a new file system tweak that separates videos captured by the carcamera when in Dashcam and Sentry Mode to make it easier for users to find them, and they&ll be auto-deleted when therea need to free up storage.

This is a big ol& update packed with new features, and itgoing to be rolling out over-the-air to vehicles beginning this week. As mentioned a couple of places above, you might see some slight differences region to region, but Tesla says you can also check out the updates in-store at its showrooms if you want a sneak preview.

MediaRadar CEO Todd Krizelman describes his company as having &a very specific objective, which is to help media salespeople sell more advertising& by providing them with crucial data. And with todaylaunch of MediaRadar Events, Krizelman hopes to do something similar for event organizers.

These customer groups might actually be one and the same, as plenty of companies (including TechCrunch) see both advertising and events as part of their business. In fact, Krizelman said customer demand &basically pushed us into this business.

He also suggested that after years of seeing traditional ad dollars shifting into digital, &the money is now moving out of digital into events.&

If you&re organizing a trade show, you can use MediaRadar Events to learn about the overall size of the market, and then see whobeen purchasing sponsorships and exhibitor booths at similar events.

The product doesn&t just tell you who to reach out to, but how much these companies have paid for booths and sponsorships in the past, whether there are seasonal patterns in their conference spending and how that spending fits into their overall marketing budget — after all, Krizelman said, &In 2019, very few companies are siloed by media format as a buyer or a seller. Anyone doing that is putting their business at risk.&

He also described collecting the data needed to power MediaRadar Events as &much more complicated than we expected,& which is why it took the team two years to build the product. He said that data comes from three sources — some of it is posted publicly by event organizers, some is shared directly by the event organizers with MediaRadar and, in some cases, members of the MediaRadar team will attend the events themselves.

MediaRadar Events support a wide range of events, although Krizelman acknowledged that it doesn&t have data for every industry. For example, he suggested that a convention for coin-operated laundromat owners might be &too niche& (though he hastened to add that he meant no offense to the laundromat business).

In a statement, James Ogle — chief financial officer at Access Intelligence (which owns the LeadsCon conference and publications like AdExchanger) — said:

Hosting events and the resulting revenue that comes from them is a big part of our business. However, the event space is getting more and more crowded and also more niche. Relevancy equals value, so we want to make sure our attendees are within the right target market for our exhibitors. MediaRadar provides critical transparency into the marketplace.