Instagram’s about to get a little internal update, and users of the social media platform aren’t too thrilled. The Facebook-owned company announced on Tuesday, March 15, that it’ll soon be transitioning to a new algorithm that will determine a user’s newsfeed in a nonchronological manner — meaning, one based on what people are interacting with most.
“You may be surprised to learn that people miss on average 70 percent of their feeds,” the company said in a statement on their blog. “As Instagram has grown, it’s become harder to keep up with all the photos and videos people share. This means you often don’t see the posts you might care about the most.”
According to the statement, Instagram feeds will no longer be created based on the timing of posts, but on what people are liking and commenting on most, in a way similar to Facebook news feeds.
“If your favorite musician shares a video from last night’s concert, it will be waiting for you when you wake up, no matter how many accounts you follow or what time zone you live in,” the statement reads. “And when your best friend posts a photo of her new puppy, you won’t miss it.”
What this means for Instagram fans is simple:
– You’ll see more of your friends’ posts because you’ve liked and commented on their photos.
– You’ll likely see more advertising catered toward your interests.
Avid users of the popular network — more people are engaged on Instagram than on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Google+ — have a few concerns about the new changes, however.
Now Instagram is going to decide for you what pics you should see first. Leave my timeline alone man!!@AfrikaOnAir
— #Power96 (@Power965) March 17, 2016
Not happy with @instagram's new feed update… if you don't know about it- read here: https://t.co/Ojx933b21y#RIPInstagram ?
— bryant (@BryantEslava) March 16, 2016
Dear @instagram, PLEASE DON'T CHANGE. PLEASE DON'T ASSUME YOU KNOW WHAT I WANT TO SEE! I DON'T WANT AN ALGORITHM, I WANNA LOOK INTO THE PAST
— MAYA KAZAN (@maya_kazan) March 16, 2016
"Instagram testing new algorithm driven feed" no. There's nothing worse. It still annoys me that Facebook is doing this.
— George Phillips (@GeeMPhillips) March 16, 2016
John Mayer chimed in with his own thoughts as well, asking Instagram in a post to reconsider its new system.
"This one's for the artists and designers I've found on my Instagram and come to 'know' via my feed," he captioned the message.
Despite some user misgivings, Instagram’s changes likely won’t reach the extent of Facebook’s in terms of targeted advertising, 360i’s VP of Social Marketing and Strategy, Orli LeWiter, told AdWeek.
“I don’t believe Instagram will go full-fledge Facebook with its suppression of all organic reach for content,” she said. “The Instagram community is just different and expects a level of authenticity and accessibility that isn’t reflected on Facebook.”
