Instagram’s New Algorithm & My Two Cents

As a blogger and a millennial, I spend a significant amount of my time on social media. It’s one of the first things that I do when I wake up and one of the last things I do before I go to bed.

In particular, I absolutely LOVE Instagram. I think it’s so cool to see what’s going on with friends, family, and colleagues all over the world through their posts, in real time. Unfortunately, this won’t be so easy anymore, because Instagram is making some big changes.

Some of you may not know this, but Instagram is owned by Facebook, and they’re notorious for constantly changing their algorithm (AKA the order that posts show up in on your timeline). Instagram’s feed has been chronological since it first started in 2010, but after this week that’s no longer going to be the case.

Instagram is going to start having a similar feed to Facebook and a whole algorithm that will determine how your photos show up in your feed. Due to this change, you won’t always get to see the things that you want to see from all the people you follow. Instead, you’re going to be shown what Instagram THINKS you want to see. This new order will be partially based on the kinds of things you’ve liked previously, but there will be numerous factors going into this algorithm.

It’s hard enough to keep up with general social media trends, but now this honestly has gotten me a bit upset and frustrated. Here’s why: I follow the users and brands that I follow because I want to see what they post. If I didn’t want to see their posts, I either wouldn’t have followed them in the first place or I would’ve unfollowed them. Therefore, Instagram deciding on my behalf how these photos show up on my feed kind of defeats the purpose of me following who I follow.

It also takes away from the real-time connection I have with all of you. I want you to be able to see the photos I post when I post them, rather than either never seeing them or seeing them at a later time. Instagram literally has part of the word “instant” in its title, so this change really makes no sense as a part of their brand. I want to keep sharing my photos instantly with all of you!

There are two ways to make sure you stay connected with the accounts that you love.

1.Engage with the photos you really enjoy! By commenting on and liking the photos that you actually LIKE in real life, you’ll be more likely to see the photos that these accounts post.

2. If you want to make sure that don’t miss any of someone’s Instagram posts, click the three little dots at the top right corner of their profile to turn on post notifications (as I’ve demonstrated below). You’ll get push notifications each time this person posts a photo.

I want to hear what you think about Insta’s major change! Love it? Hate it? Don’t care? Comment below!