If you keep tabs on social media news, you may have already heard that Instagram is changing the way they are going to display posts on their platform.
Due to their growing popularity, Facebook-owned Instagram let people know that it would no longer organize posts chronologically. “To improve your experience,” the company explained, “your feed will soon be ordered to show the moments we believe you will care about the most.” Instagram went on to explain that “the order of photos and videos in your feed will be based on the likelihood you’ll be interested in the content, your relationship with the person posting and the timeliness of the post. As we begin, we’re focusing on optimizing the order—all the posts will still be there, just in a different order.”
They gave no specific timeline on when this change would occur, but it appears some users are convinced it is already starting to take effect – and have been scrambling to make sure their fans will still see their updates.
Incase you haven’t been on Instagram today, you have probably missed the fact that users are encouraging their followers to turn on post notifications to ensure they still see updates from their account. To do so, a follower must click on the ellipsis that shows at the top right corner of the screen on each Instagram profile, and then select “turn on post notifications.” If you opt into these notifications, you will get alerted each time the Instagram user adds a new post to their account.
Many Instagram users have taken to the platform to alert their followers to the changes, using the hashtag #turnmeon and using graphics to show where the ellipsis are located, in an attempt to convince them to turn notifications on.
Here are just a few examples of how people are creatively letting their followers know about the change:
It should note that this method of turning on notifications doesn’t work on the desktop – if you click on the aforementioned ellipsis on your computer, you have the option of blocking the user, reporting the user, or canceling.
It is hard to guess why so many Instagram users are suddenly saying the algorithm change is imminent. A spokesperson for the platform when asked today said that the rollout would be gradual, and the company would be sharing more information about the change before it was launched more widely.
So I guess the sky isn’t falling yet Instagrammers!
John is a tea-drinking, 43-year-old (not old, just well-seasoned) digital marketer who remains intensely curious about new ways to market online. He believes the best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing, it is about telling stories that resonate enough with people that they want to do business with you.
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