Instagram’s timeline is controlled by algorithms which decide what content to show you at the same time. This was the special sauce that Facebook sprinkled on the once photo app that had a chronological order of posting content on the timeline.
The decsion to change from a chronological order to an algorithm powered timeline was met with skepticism by Instagram users. It seems that we might get that back.
According to Jane Wong who loves reverse engineering apps, she has found out that Instagram is working on a “Latest Posts” feed which sounds rather similar thing to the chronological feed we’ve been wanting for a while now.
Instagram is working on “Latest Posts” feed for catching up feed posts
This sounds like the chronological feed people are asking for. Similar, but not the same 👀 pic.twitter.com/AUMwlZGtUr
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) February 14, 2020
From the screenshots she posted, when you switch to that feed, it shows you a splash screen that welcomes you to catch up with posts of people you follow.. According to Wong, this will be a separate section and not an option to switch timelines.
It is not clear how Instagram will implement this. Will they show all of the new posts from your friends? Is it still controlled by algorithms? Will it feature ads? Will I still see the same content on the main feed? There are so many questions about this feature and we will keep an eye on it.
Facebook’s decision to have an algorithmically powered timeline made a lot of sense. They personalize the feed for you and serve you relevant ads which they make money from. Instagram has become such a success to them to the point where it contributes more than a quarter of Facebook’s revenues.
