Instagram made me fall in love with photography again. Instagram helped me discover secret places everywhere I got to travel to. I used to wake up and scroll through the pics uploaded over night, so that I would start my day with a good vibe.
And now I say pass to checking the posts. There are too many changes.
At first the feed was interrupted by the ads. My first reaction was to tap the username and select unfollow, then I saw it was sponsored. Alright, I understand they’re useful for the business purposes. This is why I don’t mind the ads – I use the app and generate content in exchange of giving my data and receive ads.
Then the feed was mixed, without a notification. Sure, they Instagram announced that they’re starting to test the algorithm in parts of the globe. Would have been nice to see a notice though – Hey there, don’t freak out and check over and over again the internet connections, you see posts from 1 day ago because the algorithm is changed. Fair enough for me.
I suffer from FOMO, so I’m used to scroll down to the last image I saw and then refresh the feed and then exit. But at least now I have a good excuse (or not?) for not seeing all of my friends’ posts.
And now my feed is interrupted again by the follow recommendations via facebook profile. The section is so similar to the facebook section that I had to check what app I’m using.
There was a time when I was thinking that brand instagram accounts are offering behind the scenes content and I enjoyed to see how things were being done, imperfections, work process. The content is now very changed, with all the perfect pics. Ok, I guess those were natural changes.
But now, all these changes in the feed affect the “community” thing that kept the people around. I chose to follow some people because I want to see their content. I don’t want to chose who to see first. My user journey is quite simple: scroll down, double tap; want to see a someone’s pics> search the username.
We all know that the tendency is to make more room for the brands – and marketing wise that is wonderful. I just fear that the community won’t react very good at this.
Later edit – 12 may
* – I like the clean new look of the app. I like the new logo. I just want my feed back.
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