On March 15, Instagram notified users that they were updating the algorithm that controls the feed. Today, your feed is programmed to show posts from accounts that you follow in a chronological order, i.e. the latest posts first.
The problem with this is that Instagram has over 400 million users that tend to follow hundreds of accounts each. This means that no one can scan through all the posts that are being published, no matter how long you spend on Instagram every day. According to Instagram, users miss an average of 70% of their feed meaning we only get to see 30% of the posts that are intended for us.
Tailored Content That’s Relevant to You
Instagram is now changing the algorithm to make sure that we see more than 30% of the content that is relevant to us. By mapping what we like and the type of content we tend to engage with, Instagram is aiming to make our feeds more interesting and personal. The content will still be based on the accounts that you have followed, however, the posts won't show in chronological order anymore. For example, if you’re always liking that one friend's pictures or often comment on posts from a humor account, Instagram will make sure those accounts are prioritized in your feed. Posts from these accounts will show at the top of your feed even if they were published several hours ago. By doing this, Instagram hopes to create personal feeds that are relevant to the users.
Forget Time Differences
Another benefit of this new feed is that it eradicates any issues regarding time differences. With the algorithm used today, there is a risk that your favorite accounts update their profiles when you’re sleeping and by the time you wake up their posts have drowned in other content since it’s all chronological.
Instagram Has Not Confirmed When the Update Will Take Place
The new algorithm is currently being tested on a selected amount of users in order to find the most optimal solution. However, it will most likely take a few months before the change is live and included on all accounts. There have been several posts circulating on Facebook and Instagram that claim the update will happen on March 29, 2016, however, a person working for Facebook has denied this.
There is no doubt that this is a major change and it will definitely have an impact on the content we get exposed to on Instagram, but it’s not necessarily a negative thing. Since the update is supposed to make the content more relevant to us, it will most likely help boost engagement. We here at Beatly welcome the update and the change, and we strongly believe that it will help make the experience on the platform better and more user-friendly.
Also, this update will be great for all of us who try to be as time efficient as possible since it
will keep us from scrolling through our whole feed looking for the posts that engage us most. At the same time, the update might make us more hooked on Instagram since we’ll only see relevant content. Either way, we are very excited to see what happens!
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