Welp, you guys, it looks like the day we've been anticipating (or dreading, depending on your druthers) has finally arrived. The Instagram feed change is happening now. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill. As you'll remember, we first learned of the new algorithmic feed change back in March, when mass panic ensued at the mere notion of the photo sharing app abandoning the chronological order of old. Everyone has had a little time to process the idea at this point, right? Hopefully so, since Instagram just announced they'll officially be rolling out the update over the next month.
As for the motivation behind the update, Instagram has cited simple logic: Unless you're on 24/7, you are going to miss some pretty pertinent posts. In a blog post dated June 2, the company explained, "On average, people miss 70 percent of their feeds. It's become harder to keep up with all the photos and videos people share as Instagram has grown. Over the past few months, we brought this new way of ordering posts to a portion of the community, and we found that people are liking photos more, commenting more and generally engaging with the community in a more active way."
So what does this mean for you? Well, starting soon — if not already — your Instagram feed will no longer display chronologically. According to Instagram's help center, posts will now be ordered based on myriad factors, including how recently they've been shared, the history of your interactions with the people you follow, and how interesting the algorithm thinks you'll find the post. Posts which the app predicts you'll like the most will appear higher in your feed.
You likely have a few questions at this point. For example, what if someone shares several posts that are supposed to go together? Will they still show up that way? In a word, no. "Currently, posts from the same account won't necessarily appear together in feed. However, posts will still appear on your profile in the order in which they were posted," Instagram's help center says.
But what if I don't dig this new algorithmic feed? Well, it would appear that it's here to stay, so there's that. And while some other social networks, like Twitter, allow you to switch back to a chronological timeline if you like, Instagram doesn't really have an option to opt out. However, you can reclaim a little bit of power over your feed by turning on notifications for individual users or turning off notifications for others. You can also always unfollow or block people if you're tired of seeing them in your feed.
Other than that, it's time to adapt to this new way of Insta-living. So go forth, take pretty pictures, and enjoy your algorithmic scrolling!
Images: Instagram; Giphy (2)
