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Instagrammers have been trained to expect posts to appear in reverse chronological order forcing them to vigorously scroll through the app to make up for lost browsing time. Instagram joined the fight against sequential moment-by-moment updates social media is known for. Facebook first changed the game in 2009 when it introduced an algorithm that is based on post popularity, moving relevant posts to the top of your newsfeed for your convenience. Since Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012, we should have saw this change coming! But now, in the hours before the change is universal, there is mass panic and endless amounts of posts pleading for you to "Turn on Notifications' for accounts.
Instagram has an algorithm update and be reordering your newsfeed based on relevancy specific to each user. So, what does this mean for you and your selfies? The photos and videos you find most relevant will now be reordered to the top of you feed to make perusing more fruitful. “On average, people miss about 70 percent of the posts in their Instagram feed,” Kevin Systrom, co-founder and chief executive of Instagram, said in an interview. “What this is about is making sure that the 30 percent you see is the best 30 percent possible.” Rather than viewing 30 percent of your feed that may not be relevant to your interest, Instagram is optimizing your newsfeed to allow only prominent content to appear first.
Although, the latest Instagram change may take some getting used to and provoke users, it really is for the best. Why waste time scrolling back hours and hours for fear of missing important posts when they can be placed at the top making the posts easy to see? This change has come in waves over time adding small percentages of user groups slowly before applying the changes broadly (which happens tomorrow). Systrom says, “If it’s one thing we do really well as a company, it’s that we take big change slowly and deliberately and bring the community along with us, it’s not like people will wake up tomorrow and have a different Instagram."
Social media is an opportunity to provide followers with content they enjoy and find value in, despite what the norm has come to suggest. As long as brands continue to provide valuable content, the update will only help your brand online. And as long as your friends still love you, your selfies will continue to get likes. Hopefully, with time Instagrammers will come to appreciate the adjustment and amplified user-friendliness of the app.
