Following the recent backlash from influencers and users alike, Instagram has decided to backpedal on its decision to introduce a new full-screen version of its feed. In addition, head executive Adam Mosseri also revealed that the Meta-owned media sharing platform will also reduce the level of recommended content on users’ feeds. However, these changes are only temporary.
“For the new feed designs, people are frustrated and the usage data isn’t great,” he said in an interview with Platformer. “So there I think that we need to take a big step back, regroup and figure out how we want to move forward.”
On that note, Mosseri previously admitted that the new full-screen design was “not yet good” and needed more fine tuning before it can be rolled out to everyone. The Instagram head’s statement was mentioned in a video uploaded earlier this week to address user complaints regarding its shift in emphasis to video-based content, as well as adopting an interface and feed that mimics TikTok’s.
Typically, the platform only acknowledged a small portion of the concerns that were brought up, while skirting around the majority of it. The latter being the amount of recommended posts appearing on users’ feed rather than chronological content published by people that they follow. As mentioned earlier, Mosseri noted that the amount of promoted content will be reduced, but only for the time being.
He further added that recommended posts are important to help creators build their audiences, regardless of whether users care about seeing their content or not. “When you discover something in your field that you didn’t follow before, there should be a high bar — it should just be great,” Mosseri said. “You should be delighted to see it. And I don’t think that’s happening enough right now.”
Meta hasn’t been shy about placing heavy emphasis on recommended content on both Facebook and Instagram. In fact, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told investors in an earnings call this week that 15% of posts people see on the company’s primary social media network are recommended by algorithms, with the percentage even higher on its media sharing platform. He added that the volume of recommended posts will double over the next year or so.
(Source: Platformer)
