A recent announcement that Instagram is considering switching its newsfeed to a more Facebook-like algorithmic user experience has been met with plenty of resistance from users of the photo-sharing application.
In a blog post, Instagram said users miss up to 70 percent of the posts made by the accounts they follow. To remedy that, the company said it’s likely the new and improved newsfeed will be organized to “show the moments we believe you will care about the most.”
Like Facebook, the order of posts in a user’s feed will be based on whether users are likely to be interested in the content, their relationship with the poster and the post’s timeliness.
As it contemplates this change, Instagram says it will “take time to get this right and listen to your feedback along the way.” It’s this solicitation for feedback that has prompted the creation of a change.org petition that was started to, as its name states, “Keep Instagram Chronological.”
The creators of the petition ask “Is this something that the community really wants?” They urge Instagram users to sign the petition if they want to keep the current chronological newsfeed, or at least would like the option to opt out of the algorithmic change. To date, the petition has received over 125,000 signatures.
For companies with Instagram pages, the move to an algorithmic newsfeed could signal an effort by Instagram to begin capitalizing even further on its 400 million users. For businesses who use Facebook and Instagram to reach their followers with sales pitches or as a branding channel, paid boosted posts can’t seem far off for Instagram. After all, that strategy has been a financial success for Instagram parent Facebook.
Algorithmic newsfeed changes at Facebook through the years have led to the current model of the company limiting the organic reach of business pages, forcing owners to have to pay up to reach more of their following through boosted posts.
As always, the bottom line in social media marketing is to create and share engaging and meaningful content. The days of free, overt social media sales pitches are coming to a rapid conclusion, as Instagram says the change is likely to be rolled out in the next few months.