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It looks like we’re getting our chronologically-ordered Instagram back.
In 2016, the photo-sharing app changed the way its feed works, displaying posts in a more tailored, algorithm-based way. While there are admittedly some advantages to this – we don’t need to see what someone we met at a party once had for dinner, but we do need to see Sopranos memes – the move had a fair amount of pushback, with some users complaining that they weren’t seeing posts from accounts they liked.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, revealed the news during a recent Senate hearing where he explained that the feature has been in the works “for months” and that they are “targeting the first quarter of next year.”
In a tweet, the social platform confirmed the news, as well as an update on its ‘Favourites’ feature: “We want people to have meaningful control over their experience,” it said. “We’ve been experimenting with Favorites, a way for you to decide whose posts you want to see higher up, and we’re working on another option to see posts from people you follow in chronological order.”
“We want to be clear that we’re creating new options,” Instagram added, “providing people with more choices so they can decide what works best for them – not switching everyone back to a chronological feed. You can expect more on this early next year!”
In June this year, Mosseri wrote in a blog post that it was “impossible for most people to see everything, let alone all the posts they cared about” with Instagram’s chronological feed, but the platform has continued to receive backlash for its algorithm and increased advertising which prevent users from seeing the posts they like.
Instagram is constantly testing new updates to varying degrees of success – see: hiding like counts and updating its nudity policy – and some of which are mercilessly mocked – see: the feed sharing ban and, of course, horizontal scrolling.
We want to be clear that we’re creating new options — providing people with more choices so they can decide what works best for them — not switching everyone back to a chronological feed. You can expect more on this early next year!
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