Instagram said that it will be reorganising users’ feeds by prioritising posts it thinks users will find the most interesting (based on their interests).
The move means that Instagram will no longer display content in reverse chronological order.
Instagram said that it believes the new Facebook-style feed is the best option for its users:
“You may be surprised to learn that people miss on average 70 percent of their feeds. 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.
“To improve your experience, your feed will soon be ordered to show the moments we believe you will care about the most.”
According to Instagram, the order of photos and videos in a feed will be “based on the likelihood” that the user will be interested in the content, their relationship with the person posting and the timeliness of the post – similar to how Facebook displays its users’ timelines.
“As we begin, we’re focusing on optimising the order — all the posts will still be there, just in a different order,” the company said.
Adding:
“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. And when your best friend posts a photo of her new puppy, you won’t miss it.
“We’re going to take time to get this right and listen to your feedback along the way. You’ll see this new experience in the coming months.”
Instagram says that the change will not have a significant impact on advertisers.
A spokesperson was quoted by The Drum as saying that “changes to the feed will not impact ad delivery — frequency and order will stay the same.”