Instagram Tests Three Feed Options, Including The Much-Missed Chronological View
Although Instagram has seemed adamant that chronological feeds have no place in the present, the social network is walking back on this decision. Ye olde ’gram view, along with two other settings, is currently being tested with a select group of users.
Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri, who announced this update in front of Congress at a Senate hearing about the app’s potential mental health dangers for young users last month, demonstrated the new options in a new video posted Wednesday. The three views, accessible in a dropdown menu on the main feed, are ‘Home’, ‘Following’, and ‘Favorites’.
Testing Feed Changes 👀
— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) January 5, 2022
We’re starting to test the ability to switch between three different views on your home screen (two of which would give you the option to see posts in chronological order):
- Home
- Favorites
- Following
We hope to launch these soon. More to come. ✌🼠pic.twitter.com/9zvB85aPSp
Previously, Mosseri said the traditional chronological feed wouldn’t be efficient today as billions of members have since joined the platform, making it less likely for users to reach posts more suited for them. In Instagram’s eyes, it would make more sense to rank content it felt users preferred instead of arranging photos or videos in chronological order.
“As more people joined and more was shared, it became impossible for most people to see everything, let alone all the posts they cared about,” Instagram’s chief described last June.
Now, Instagram is working to give users the choice of sorting their feeds in chronological or algorithmic orders. “We think it’s important that you can get to a chronological feed, if you’re interested, quickly and see the latest that has been posted by the accounts that you follow,” Mosseri said in the new video.
The ‘Home’ feed is the default view that users get today, which prioritizes content according to what the algorithm thinks you want to see. However, Instagram says this setting will grow to display “more and more recommendations over time.”
‘Favorites’ shows posts from a list of accounts you care about so you won’t miss out on the latest updates from your loved ones and favorite creators.
Finally, ‘Following’ shows content in chronological order so you can get to the latest posts first.
Trials for the feed switch are happening now and will reach a wider group of members over the next few weeks, said Mosseri.
As for the official launch, Instagram anticipates a full rollout in the first half of 2022.
[via 9to5Mac and Engadget, video and images via Adam Mosseri]
