Instagram has confirmed that it is bringing back the much-loved chronological order feed next year. The social media platform removed the functionality half a decade ago and has been forcing its algorithmic timeline down the throats of its users. Users have been complaining for years regarding problems with the algorithmic timeline.
But the algorithmic timeline isn't all bad. Those joining Instagram for the first time, or those who have low follower counts, may come to appreciate an algorithmic timeline as it surfaces up recommended accounts or people to follow. It also surfaces topics of interest that users may want to explore further.
But for those who cannot stand the algorithmic timeline at all, Instagram has announced via Twitter that it's finally bringing back the chronological timeline. The company also says that it's experimenting with a new Favorites feature, which enables users to decide, "whose posts you want to see higher up." But Instagram wants to make it clear that it won't suddenly force everybody back to the chronological timeline. Instead, it will be an option alongside the existing algorithmic timeline. The social media platform says that the chronological timeline will be coming sometime early next year.
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Defaulting to the algorithmic is fine, but not allowing users to switch to a more traditional chronological timeline has been more than annoying for a good chunk of users. The algorithmic timeline doesn't always show everything from the accounts users follow. A chronological timeline would obviously fix that.
The mental health of teens using social media apps has been a topic of debate lately. Instagram and its parent company, Meta, aren't helping with that. Both Instagram and Facebook (now Meta) have been caught flat out lying about targeting ads to teens. Meta was fully aware of the toxic nature of what was going down on its platforms but did not do anything about it.
Instagram and other social media platforms have also been dealing with spam and bot accounts. In the case of Instagram specifically, the company introduced a new video selfie verification system for new and suspected spam or bot accounts. The company hopes that the new system can help curb spam and bot accounts on its platform. But having to submit a video selfie to Instagram could be seen as a privacy invasion for some folks, especially considering Instagram stores the video selfie on its platform for at least 30 days.
Source: Instagram/Twitter