Instagram appears to be following in the footsteps of and becoming more and more like its parent company Facebook. The company announced in a blog post on Tuesday that it will eliminate the displaying of posts in reverse-chronological order in feeds and instead use algorithms — something that Facebook already does.
While this will change the way users view posts on the social media app, this isn't the only thing that is different about the platform. It only makes sense that popular social networks continue to roll out new features and make appropriate changes to continue to provide a positive experience in an attempt to keep their user bases. The last thing it would want is people deleting their accounts and making the move to Snapchat.
It makes perfect sense that Instagram keep things fresh, a page it is probably taking from Facebook. The largest social media network recently released its own handful of changes, such as Facebook Live for Android, Reactions and Canvas ads.
Here are all the latest changes happening at our favorite photo sharing app.
Instagram Uses Algorithms In Its Feed
Of course, the big news that everyone is talking about is the fact that the social media app will feature posts that are most relevant to its users at the top of their feed. This will break the reverse-chronological order currently used, and instead rely on algorithms to reveal posts that matter most to the user.
At least this means that users won't miss out on important posts from their top friends and other accounts they follow. It's the best move, in all honesty, since there is just too much content, and there needs to be an organized way to display to it its more-than-400 million active users. This is exactly what Facebook does to determine which content to display at the top of a user's News Feed.
Instagram will only start testing this feature out, so don't start panicking that the Insta world as you know it will suddenly be turned upside-down.
No More Snapchat
Wouldn't it be nice if all the social media platforms could just get along? Instagram previously allowed users to promote their Snapchat account in the website section of their profiles, but recently decided that this won't fly anymore.
Users could include an "add me/follow me" link that would redirect them to the rival app Snapchat or the messaging app Telegram. However, now, the platform no longer supports this ability. That means if a user is trying to get social media famous, they are going to have to stick to one platform at a time — at least when it comes to Instagram.
This decision to block Snapchat promotions is interesting, especially since there are popular Instagram accounts dedicated to just Snaps from popular accounts like Kylie Jenner's. Instagram appears to have come to its senses, and instead wants to have users focus on posting videos on its platform.
It's important to note that, while users can share Instagram or Twitter posts on Facebook, there is no way to share Snaps.
Two-Step Authentication
Instagram also announced it will release another change that will help its users to better protect their accounts. It started testing a two-factor authentication process for its site, something Facebook previously released in 2011 called "Login Approvals."
Users will have the ability to enter in a phone number to be sent an authentication code. The user would then put in the code, along with their username and password, to get access into their account.
This will help prevent hackers from getting into accounts, which should make both everyday users and the Kim Kardashians of Instagram feel safer.
We expect more changes to be on the horizon for the continuously-growing social media platform.
Photo: Karl Nilsson | Flickr
