Facebook will trial a program in Australia to try to ease the pressure of using social media by hiding the number of likes on users' posts.

The idea has been tested by sister platform Instagram since July, also in Australia but also in New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Italy, and Ireland.

From Friday, certain Australian Facebook users will no longer be able to see the number of likes - or reactions - on another person's Facebook post.  They will, however, be able to see the likes, frowny faces, laughter icons, etc. given to their own posts.

Company spokeswoman Mia Garlick says it's about "taking that number out of the equation, so that people can focus on the quality of their interactions and the quality of the content rather than on the number of likes or reactions."

Some tech experts had predicted this sort of thing would happened, and Facebook consulted with mental health experts and anti-bullying groups over the change.  

However, so-called social media "influencers" are not crazy about the idea.  They say the a public count of their likes is an important business metric for them.