What Does “Liked by Creator” Mean on Instagram?

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms ever created. Enjoyed by millions around the world, the leading photo-sharing app is constantly making changes and improvements to their platform. Some of these updates are very minor and often go undetected to the average users. On the contrary, some updates that Instagram makes seem to be much more widespread and apparent.

If you’ve been using Instagram on a regular basis over the past few months, you may have noticed a new phrase often seen in the comments section of posts, stories and reels. The phrase, “Liked by Creator” has been showing up in several of these areas. But what exactly does this mean? Today we’re going to discuss this topic in greater detail.

“Liked by Creator” – What Does it Actually Mean?

If you see the phrase “Liked by Creator” on Instagram, it’s a simple way of saying that the comment was liked by the publisher of the post or reel. The account owner is also known as the “creator” since they created the original post and/or content that was commented on. In other words, it directly indicates that the comment was liked by the account that posted it.

If you browse down a list of comments, you’ll sometimes see “Liked by Creator” appear several times in bold text. Placed beneath each corresponding comment, it offers users a quick and easy way to see if the account “liked” what was written. This holds true for posts, stories and even reels.

Instagram Likes or Hearts?

Like most social media platforms, Instagram uses a “like” system to show support for content that other users publish. However, since many Instagram users originally came from Facebook, seeing a “heart” icon may be somewhat confusing.

On Facebook, a heart means “love” but on Instagram, it’s the same thing as a standard “like.” Basically, Instagram uses the heart icon as what most would consider a “like.” A liked comment on Instagram is indicated by a red-filled heart icon on the right column of any comment thread.

Why Did Instagram Implement the “Liked by Creator” Feature?

Since Instagram has never officially released information about this new change, we can only assume why they implemented it. One of the main goals of most social media platforms is to create a user-friendly environment. By adding a visual indicator that the comment was liked by the account that posted it, users don’t need to sift through the individual like count of each comment.

Theoretically, many users over-browse Instagram’s content. To put it bluntly, many people spend hours of each day mindlessly scrolling through the platform. Although Instagram would never complain about this increased engagement, they still need to find a balance of providing a user-friendly interface without frustrating users.

Although we can only offer speculation on why they implemented the “Liked by Creator” feature, we believe this is probably the best theory. In the end, Instagram wants high-engagement, but they also want to provide an easy to browse, easy to navigate platform.

Does “Liked by Creator” Only Appear from a Creator Account?

Instagram offers a few different kinds of accounts. First, they have a Business Profile. These types of accounts offer much more insight through analytics and API access. Secondly, they have Creator Profiles. These are similar to Business Profiles but they lack the ability to auto publish, tag people, add locations and first comments. Lastly, Personal Profiles are the standard account type that most users have.

So the question is, does “Liked by Creator” only appear if the account type is a Creator Profile? No. This phrase will appear in the comments section regardless of the original posters’ account type. It can be a bit confusing, but we felt like this should be pointed out.

Can I Turn Off “Liked by Creator” Message?

Often, when Instagram implements a platform-wide change like this, many users have complaints about it. However, since the simple “Liked by Creator” message isn’t very obtrusive for most, there is no way to turn it off. That said, it isn’t a feature that necessarily has many drawbacks. In fact, most would agree that this new feature is more of a neutral change. Simply put, the majority of users don’t seem to mind it or actually prefer it.

Why Doesn’t “Liked by Creator” Show Up?

The “Liked by Creator” message only appears on comment threads of posts. Specifically, it does not show up when you like your own post; only when you like a comment that’s on your post. In fact, it does not appear on reels either. Even though reels have their very own comment section, this message will only appear on actual published posts (photos or videos) on your main account page.

In the future, we may see “Liked by Creator” implemented across the entire platform, including the comment section of reels. However, as of September 2022, it’s a specific feature that we’ll only be seeing on actual posts.

Final Thoughts

Overall, we belive that Instagram’s new “Liked by Creator” notification is a step in the right direction. It makes the platform easier to use in a way that prevents additional browsing and tapping around. Although it’s only specific to comment threads on publish posts, it seems to be well-loved by most users. Since there isn’t a way to disable it, it seems to be a feature that all Instagram users will soon be very familiar with.

Are you new to Instagram or an experienced user? Regardless, you may find our guide on How to See Followers of a Private Instagram Account quite helpful. We recently put a lot of time and effort into this piece so we’re recommending it to all interested users of Instagram.