X (formerly known as Twitter) users are plastering the phrase #BringBackLikes all over the platform after Elon Musk announced that going forward, users' likes will now be private.

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The new change was announced via X's official engineering account and was also shared by Elon Musk himself.

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Musk appeared to justify the change by unveiling recent statistics of X users, claiming that the number of people liking posts had increased since he enforced the new privacy feature.

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The billionaire claimed that the new feature will be "important" for ensuring X users are able to like posts without being "attacked" for doing so.

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However, not all X users were pleased with Musk's new idea, with many protesting the change through the statement #BringBackLikes.

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Many concerns centred around fears of infidelity and breaches of trust in relationships.

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Despite the concerns of cheating, some users seemed thrilled at the idea of being able to like the content of other attractive users without being caught.

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Other concerns addressed whether the choice to privatise likes would be misused in order for users to access harmful or unsavoury content without consequences or judgment.

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Some users suggested alternative ways to "like" posts, including commenting with the word "like" or leaving a thumbs-up emoji beneath posts.

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As Musk previously stated, the change has seen the number of likes increase on X almost immediately. However, it seems users have already begun misusing the feature, with one user claiming that a man had rapidly liked 68 of her busty images in a row.

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Only time will tell how this polarising new feature will change how people behave on social media.

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Although the privatisation of likes can prevent the witch-hunting of individuals who exercise their freedom of opinion on the platform, it could also open doors for users to engage with radical and potentially harmful content without consequences.

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An example of X likes being used to attack individuals is when Love Islander Whitney Adebayo was recently criticised for liking conservative posts on X, prompting fans to turn on her.

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Another example of this is Big Brother's Trish Balusa being brutally "cancelled" for a series of her resurfaced tweets.

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However, as we have seen users have already begun to misuse the privilege of private likes through the obsessive liking of a young woman's images, it sparks the debate on privacy versus safety.