Instagram’s new timeline format has arrived, meaning all users will now see posts according to relevancy rather than how recently they were posted, similar to its parent company Facebook’s algorithm. The algorithmic system ostensibly uses machine learning to show users content based on what they’ve liked before.
While this change has been met mainly with dread from the Instagram community, particularly small businesses that fear they’ll soon have to pay to reach their followers, the company states that the new algorithm will be for the better.
“On average, people miss 70 percent of their feeds,” the company said its most recent blog post, adding that in its months of testing since the change was first announced in March, “we found that people are liking photos more, commenting more and generally engaging with the community in a more active way.”
In a recent update related to brand accounts, Instagram began letting users pay to promote posts on the app, however, which doesn’t do much to reassure users that this change was not primarily a financial decision for the app.
Related reading: Instagram is testing a new Facebook-like algorithmic timeline
[source]Instagram[/source]
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