Instagram has competed ardently with other social media platforms like TikTok and Snapchat to attract more creators. Now, the platform is experimenting with a new algorithm that can make viewing recent content difficult. But, through hashtags, users can view all posts centered around the tag. However, Instagram’s new test will enable users to see only the most liked posts or Reels related to a particular hashtag. That is, the recent tab is likely to disappear from a user’s Instagram homepage.
Moreover, Instagram claims that the new test will combine “more recent and timely content” in the two groups. Hence, allowing the company to determine how people engage with such content. In addition, hashtags were fun to highlight photo trends when Instagram first introduced them. However, now they have become a way for users to get more audience, likes, comments, shares, etc.
Furthermore, Instagram states that the “top posts” tab shows popular posts, whereas the “recent” tab contains all posts in order. Additionally, although users wish to see their timeline in chronological order, social media platforms keep on doing the opposite. These platforms utilize algorithms that display more marketable content on top of users’ timelines. So, in a bid to compete against its rivals, Instagram intends for Reels to become a natural alternative to viewing posts.
Most importantly, social media platforms’ efforts to increase users’ interaction with system-sorted content have led to many changes. For example, a month back, Twitter altered users’ default timeline to an algorithmic one. Although, the platform did reverse the change after a few days due to negative responses from its customers. In any case, it will be nice to see what content users will see if Instagram rolls out the new change of “accidentally” removing the “recent” tab more widely.
