Instagram Bringing Back Big Feature Users Have Been Demanding
Instagram has a big change in store for the app, and it's one that users have been clamoring for. According to The Verge, Instagram will finally bring back the chronological feed. Five years ago, the social media platform implemented a major change that introduced an algorithmically sorted feed.
On Wednesday, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, took part in a Senate subcommittee hearing. During the hearing, Mosseri said that the company is currently working on making an update to the app's feed. As for what that update will entail, he stated that it will allow users to see posts in chronological order. This would be a major update for the social media platform, as it has had an algorithmically sorted feed since 2016.
Currently, users' feeds are based on their respective Instagram activity. The company pushed forward this change in an effort to make the feed a more personalized experience for users. Even though the company has often shared that this update was a positive one for the platform's community, users have largely criticized the incorporation of an algorithm-based feed. So, if you were missing seeing your friends' posts because of the lack of chronological order on your feed, you may be in luck. Mosseri did not share when Instagram will incorporate this update to the platform.
Instagram first introduced an algorithm-based feed in the summer of 2016 after testing it out months prior. As The Verge noted, that update involved a machine that would craft a personalized feed based on what they believe you want to see more. If you're an active Instagram user, you've probably noticed this in action. Thanks to that update, your feed is crafted based on the posts and individuals with whom you have interacted in the past. The publication noted that this is very similar to Facebook, which makes sense since Facebook owns Instagram.
Instagram previously claimed that users did enjoy the new change, writing in a blog post, "We found that people are liking photos more, commenting more and generally engaging with the community in a more active way." While it may be true that there were some in favor of the change, by and large, users weren't happy about it. However, that unhappiness may not have to last too much longer if Instagram is indeed going back to its roots with a chronological feed.