A few weeks ago, Instagram announced its plan to implement an algorithm that will switch up (mess up) everyone’s feeds and people are angry.
This algorithm has been in place on Facebook for a couple of years now. It organizes your feed so the most popular posts appear at the top. Twitter recently adapted a similar method that places the tweets they think you will most want to see at the top of your feed. In an effort to not annoy users, this change is optional—you can go to settings and turn it off at any time.
Instagram is receiving major backlash from this announcement and they shouldn’t be surprised. It’s a stupid and unnecessary change. Their reasoning behind it is flawed. In an interview with the New York Times, Instagram’s co-founder and chief executive said,
“On average, people miss about 70 percent of the posts in their Instagram feed. What this is about is making sure that the 30 percent you see is the best 30 percent possible.”
This makes zero sense. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that users choose to follow the people they want to see posts from. It shouldn’t be up to an algorithm to decide what we want to see.
Using Facebook as a successful example is a bit of a stretch. Most users hated the algorithm when it was first installed and most people still hate it now (Facebook owns Instagram, by the way). Facebook does have a “most recent” option but, let’s be honest here, no one cares about Facebook that much to change it. Hopefully Instagram will provide the same. Considering the negative and worried reactions from users, I don’t see how Instagram would deprive users of that option.
Instagram has responded to the outcry. Its official Twitter account sent out a tweet that, in short, basically told people to chill out.
“We're listening and we assure you nothing is changing with your feed right now. We promise to let you know when changes roll out broadly.”
Obviously, if they were listening to us, they would’ve thrown their nonsensical algorithm into a black hole but that is besides the point—the change is still happening. A Change.org petition was started due to the impending ridiculousness. As of right now, there are over 332,000 signatures and the petition is asking for 500,000. Almost half million users are asking Instagram not to stray from chronological feeds. Seems like a bit of a red flag but hey, that’s just me. To make matters worse, many Instagram users are asking for their followers to click the little three dots on the top right corner and turn on post notifications. No. Nope. Not happening, so please stop posting about it. It’s annoying, desperate and I’ll probably unfollow you because of it.
So, Instagram, please stop the madness. This change isn’t necessary and it isn’t wanted. It’s an obvious marketing strategy that doesn’t benefit “regular” users. But, if you insist, the least you can do is make it an option. Listen to us, Instagram, we are your consumers, we decide the success of your app.
If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.
Sign the “Keep Instagram Chronological” petition here.
