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Instagram Now Testing Chronological Feed

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Back in December, Instagram lead Adam Mosseri said that Instagram was planning to reintroduce a chronological feed, and now Instagram is officially testing chronological feed options.

instagram-chronological-feed-option-feature.jpg

Going forward, there will be three different Instagram feed options available. The "Home" feed will be the Instagram experience that's available today, with Instagram suggesting content that it thinks that users will most want to see in an effort to "make the most of your time."

A "Favorites" feed will include a user-designated list of accounts to ensure Instagram users aren't missing content from their favorite people.

The "Following" feed will offer up a list of chronological posts from every account that an Instagram user is following. Mosseri said that Instagram feels it's important to offer this feature because the "Home" feed is going to gain more and more recommended accounts over time, so people will be able to see just the accounts they follow using this option.


According to Mosseri, Instagram wants to make it easier for people to view content how they want to see it. The feature is already in testing for some accounts or is going out over the next couple of weeks, and after the beta testing period, Instagram is planning to launch the chronological feed option in the first half of 2022.

Article Link: Instagram Now Testing Chronological Feed
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/01/05/instagram-chronological-feed-test/
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Back to the world of common sense order! It's always irked me how Facebook / Instagram / Meta / ZuckerWorld has a weird algorithm where the most useless stuff is first over actual content in order.

Oh, that's right ... they're ads. :thumbs down:
 
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I can see both sides of the argument...

People want to see posts in the order they were posted. It was like that in the beginning... why mess with it?

Then there's the other side. I'm someone who doesn't check Instagram very often. So if someone made a post on Monday... and I'm here checking Instagram on Wednesday... the only way I'd see that Monday post is to scroll ALL THE WAY BACK to Monday. And I don't have time for that. So that post is lost to me. I'll never see it.

BUT... if the algorithm serves me posts... I might actually see that Monday post on Wednesday or beyond. At least there is a chance I will see it. So in that respect I like the algorithm.

Of course the algorithm opens up more problems... which I don't need to mention here. We know all about them.

The other thing I'm excited about with this new update is the "Favorites" list.

Look... I follow a ton of people... actual friends, celebrities, photographers, basically anyone who I find interesting and I click "Follow"

Well you can see the problem... I'm following too many people for a chronological feed or an algorithmic feed. There aren't enough hours in the day to see EVERY post from EVERY person I follow.

So at least I can whittle down my favorites to a specific list. Though I wish you could make multiple lists.
 
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Yesssssss!!!!!!!
We've been asking for this for years! There are hundreds of negative app reviews because Instagram doesn't offer this feature! Twitter allows you to easily switch between the algorithm and latest which is great.

When you want entertainment use the algorithm, when you want time based news updates use chronological.
Nothing worse than seeing everyone's Christmas dinner during New Years.
 
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Michael Scrip said:
Then there's the other side. I'm someone who doesn't check Instagram very often. So if someone made a post on Monday... and I'm here checking Instagram on Wednesday... the only way I'd see that Monday post is to scroll ALL THE WAY BACK to Monday. And I don't have time for that. So that post is lost to me. I'll never see it.
Click to expand...
That's what a chronological order option is for. It displays things that happened first (or where you left off) at the top and the most recent posts are at the bottom.

What you're describing (most recent posts are displayed first/up top and older posts at the bottom) is called reverse chronological order. It's like a job resume.
 
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sw1tcher said:
That's what a chronological order option is for. It displays things that happened first (or where you left off) at the top and the most recent posts are at the bottom.

What you're describing (most recent posts are displayed first) is called reverse chronological order. It's like a job resume.
Click to expand...

Wait... I though when people said they wanted a chronological feed... that they meant reverse-chronological.

That's how it used to be, right?

Open the app and the most current post is at the top... and then you're scrolling backwards in time. And that's why I somewhat dislike that method as I might not open the app for a few days so I'd have to scroll scroll scroll to see things from a few days ago.

But are you suggesting that the feed they're proposing is forward-chronological? I'm not sure I understand that.

I thought it would be more like Twitter when you switch to the "recent" feed. Current posts at the top and you scroll backwards in time.

:)
 
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Michael Scrip said:
Wait... I though when people said they wanted chronological... that they meant reverse-chronological.

That's how it used to be, right?

Open the app and the most current post is at the top... and you're scrolling backwards in time. And that's why I somewhat dislike that method as I might not open the app for a few days so I'd have to scroll scroll scroll to see things from a few days ago.

But are you suggesting that the feed they're proposing is forward-chronological? I'm not sure I understand that.

:)
Click to expand...
When there used to be a chronological feed, it was like Twitter. It remembered your place in the feed. So when you opened it, you'd be smack at the place when you closed it last. You could tap the lozenge to take you to Today then scroll down, or scroll up toward the top and take in everything you've missed since then. I knew people who did it both ways.
 
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macsound1 said:
When there used to be a chronological feed, it was like Twitter. It remembered your place in the feed. So when you opened it, you'd be smack at the place when you closed it last. You could tap the lozenge to take you to Today then scroll down, or scroll up toward the top and take in everything you've missed since then. I knew people who did it both ways.
Click to expand...

Ah ok... I see! Thank you!

I can see how useful it would be IF it remembers your place. I would support that! ?

Are they doing that for sure? I see no indication.

Or are we just getting the "recent at top" method?
 
macsound1 said:
Yesssssss!!!!!!!
We've been asking for this for years! There are hundreds of negative app reviews because Instagram doesn't offer this feature! Twitter allows you to easily switch between the algorithm and latest which is great.

When you want entertainment use the algorithm, when you want time based news updates use chronological.
Nothing worse than seeing everyone's Christmas dinner during New Years.
Click to expand...
Ironically, if I want entertainment, which I do, I only have the feeds of humour channels switched on. I muted the feeds of almost everyone I know long ago. There's only so many boring pics of someone's lunch, sunset, or sloppy bikini b*tt, that I can handle. What is it about insta that turns normal humans into boring, moronic, misguided, attention wh*res.
 
fwmireault said:
They really want to keep themselves busy with features nobody asked for to not develop an iPad app at this point
Click to expand...
I don't think a chronological feed is something "nobody asked for". People have been wanting Instagram to add back in the chronological feed for years ever since they first replaced it with a curated feed. I personally want the chronological feed back as well, and I'm honestly really happy that they're re-adding it. And while an iPad app would be nice, I don't think it's high on Instagram's list of priorities due to the iPad's relatively small userbase compared to iPhones and Android phones.
 
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Or as I like to think of this: “we Instagram, realize people are sick of our corporate $ hungry BS and we are testing if what people really want will lose us more $$ than we calculate pissing them off will cost.”
 
I wouldn’t be surprised if they already looked at the possibility of merging FB and Instagram into a new app called Meta. Maybe what used to be called FB could be called Meta World and what used to be called Instagram could be called Meta Lifestyle (or Lifestyles). Maybe messenger would be renamed Meta Connect and also integrated into the new Meta app with all of the old apps shut down. Since he purchased Instagram, Zuckerberg has always been envious that IG was the “cool” member of the family, while his “baby” had become toxic with young users and became more popular with users twenty or thirty years older than him. Even IG has become way less popular with teens and college age users in recent years. This could turn off more people, but turning it into one essential “can’t live without it” super app like WeChat may be what ultimately saves it. I don’t know what they’ll do with WhatApp, but it’s possible that they’ll integrate it into messenger/Meta Connect?
 
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Ive had the Home/Following/Favourites feature shop up a few weeks ago on my IG, however the ‘following’ feed is definitely not in chronological order for me

DA76674C-57F1-49AC-8FF1-6EB8EFDBF8B2.jpeg
 
Michael Scrip said:
I can see both sides of the argument...

People want to see posts in the order they were posted. It was like that in the beginning... why mess with it?

Then there's the other side. I'm someone who doesn't check Instagram very often. So if someone made a post on Monday... and I'm here checking Instagram on Wednesday... the only way I'd see that Monday post is to scroll ALL THE WAY BACK to Monday. And I don't have time for that. So that post is lost to me. I'll never see it.

BUT... if the algorithm serves me posts... I might actually see that Monday post on Wednesday or beyond. At least there is a chance I will see it. So in that respect I like the algorithm.

Of course the algorithm opens up more problems... which I don't need to mention here. We know all about them.

The other thing I'm excited about with this new update is the "Favorites" list.

Look... I follow a ton of people... actual friends, celebrities, photographers, basically anyone who I find interesting and I click "Follow"

Well you can see the problem... I'm following too many people for a chronological feed or an algorithmic feed. There aren't enough hours in the day to see EVERY post from EVERY person I follow.

So at least I can whittle down my favorites to a specific list. Though I wish you could make multiple lists.
Click to expand...
An algo scales better in theory if you follow tons of people and don't use IG enough to keep up. But I've never felt the need for it to filter things for me. I can scroll through photos way more quickly than people can post them, and if I really want to dig for something, I can click on profiles or use the search. Same with FB.

I don't think users really have a problem with chrono. I don't think the algo is anything more than a way to increase app screentime by making it intentionally harder to use, like a grocery store moving its products around.
 
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