On the 15th March, Instagram stated they will be trialling a new algorithm that will affect the photo order on our news feeds. What was a short, photo-less blog post by the creators, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, erupted in backlash far and wide from their loyal fans.
Due to the increasing growth of users (Over 400 million users in November last year), Systrom and Krieger created a call of action in order for users to deal with the overwhelming number of photos and videos posted.
Instagram was, until recently, one of the remaining few apps to have their timeline updates in chronological order. What this algorithm will do is select posts based on aspects such as the popularity of the photo, the time of day they post, and your previous interactions with them. This will all determine what you see when you open the app at any given time.
Their reasoning, as posted on their blog, was “most people miss on average 70 per cent of their feeds.” Therefore by doing this, it will be a much more personalised experience that will make sure you see what they think you care about the most. Let’s not forget that it will also benefit them greatly, with the hopes of more user interaction and time spent on the app.
Users have been posting on social media under the hashtag #RIPInstragram, with complaints about this new development. Some enjoy having their minute-by-minute updates, while others don’t want to have what they see decided un-organically by the company.
Despite this, Instagram will go ahead with a trial involving a small percentage of users before changing it entirely. They also stated “we’re going to take time to get this right and listen to your feedback along the way.”
Whether their user’s complaints will be heard or not? Only time will tell.
Tell us what you think about this change and how it’s affecting you below.
