scorecard
  1. Home
  2. tech
  3. Instagram is completely changing the way its app works and making it more like Facebook

Instagram is completely changing the way its app works and making it more like Facebook

Instagram is completely changing the way its app works and making it more like Facebook
Tech2 min read

Kevin Systrom

Larry Busacca/Getty Images

Instagram will soon completely change the way its app works by algorithmically ranking your photos, instead of showing them to you in reverse chronological order.

So, instead of seeing whichever photo someone posted most recently at the top of your feed, you may see a photo that your best friend posted the night before.

"The order of photos and videos in your feed will be based on the likelihood you'll be interested in the content, your relationship with the person posting and the timeliness of the post," Instagram says in its blog post on the news.

Facebook, which owns Instagram, organizes its News Feed in a similar way. Twitter, too, has started adding posts it thinks users will want to see at the top of their timelines, though it allows them to decide whether they want to opt into the experience.

Instagram says that it's making this move in part because its more than 400 million monthly active users miss an average of 70% of their feeds and it wants to make sure that they'll always see the pictures "you will care about the most."

The company also adds that this will be a gradual roll-out over the next few months, as it takes user feedback into account.

Here's the full blog post on the news:

You may be surprised to learn that people miss on average 70 percent of their feeds. As Instagram has grown, it's become harder to keep up with all the photos and videos people share. This means you often don't see the posts you might care about the most.

To improve your experience, your feed will soon be ordered to show the moments we believe you will care about the most.

The order of photos and videos in your feed will be based on the likelihood you'll be interested in the content, your relationship with the person posting and the timeliness of the post. As we begin, we're focusing on optimizing the order - all the posts will still be there, just in a different order.

If your favorite musician shares a video from last night's concert, it will be waiting for you when you wake up, no matter how many accounts you follow or what time zone you live in. And when your best friend posts a photo of her new puppy, you won't miss it.

We're going to take time to get this right and listen to your feedback along the way. You'll see this new experience in the coming months.

NOW WATCH: How to send self-destructing messages - and other iPhone messaging tricks

READ MORE ARTICLES ON


Advertisement

Advertisement