Photo and video-sharing app Instagram is following in the footsteps of its parent Facebook, by testing out an algorithm-based feed, showing moments users “care about the most” first.
Announced in a blog post Tuesday, Instagram photos and videos will soon be arranged based on the likelihood of interest a user has in the content, their relationship to the person posting and the timeliness of the post.
According to the platform, users don’t see 70 percent of what’s posted in their feeds on average. Therefore by altering the order, the change hopes to keep users up-to-date with the latest and most relevant posts.
Earlier this year, Twitter announced it was rolling out a new personalized timeline feature, whereby popular tweets would feature near the top of each user’s Twitter feed. Facebook also presents content based on a user’s interests, which it has been refining and updating for a few years now.
At the time, Twitter said it was possible to opt out through Twitter’s settings, however, Instagram has yet to confirm any opt-out. Instagram added that all posts would still be available to see and that this “new experience” would appear in future months.
“I think the change at Instagram is just a natural development,” Mark Hawtin, investment director at GAM told CNBC Wednesday.
“It’s something they did with the Facebook news feed a couple of years ago as they reached critical mass in that product.”
Last month, Instagram revealed that it had gained over 200,000 active advertisers, allowing them to promote products to the 400 million-plus monthly active users.
Instagram enabled the advertising option to global businesses last September highlighting the company’s growth and potential. In comparison, Twitter’s latest earnings report showed it had 130,000 active advertisers and began allowing advertisements as early as 2010.
Some users did not take the news well, with many taking to Twitter to ask if the algorithm would be made optional.
[“source -cncb”]