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Instagram is switching its feed from chronological to best posts first

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Re: Instagram is switching its feed from chronological to best posts first

#11

Post by mod »

JohnTHaller wrote: post #5
ryanolsonx wrote: post #2

Why do all of these social media companies ruin feeds like that? It would be fine if there was a seperate tab for 'best'.. I want to see things as they're posted. No fancy algorithms.

Because the majority of social media users subscribe to more people/companies posting more things than the user could ever possibly read. Rather than users being overwhelmed with noise, getting frustrated, and possibly logging in less, social media companies come up with a way to show them enough content to keep them engaged and happy (and visiting the site/using the app) as long as possible.

Just make the old feed an option for "power users."

Re: Instagram is switching its feed from chronological to best posts first

#12

Post by jsprogrammer »

zippergz wrote: post #9

I'm not inherently opposed to a smarter order, but I feel like it (at least in the case of Facebook and Twitter so far) breaks a fundamental part of the use case for me. I check in every so often, and want to scroll back to the last post I saw, so I can know I saw everything. When it is sorted non-chronologically, this is impossible. I see the same thing multiple times because it's sorted near the top, and I miss som…

>Also, I'm not sure what signals they're using to rank posts.

In the past, FB has run "experiments" which determine the order you see updates based on the perceived content of the post, in order to manipulate users' behaviors. Without access to the ranking criteria used on a given feed, it would be prudent to assume that similar "experiments" (or worse) could be determining what you see, and when, on any FB service.

Re: Instagram is switching its feed from chronological to best posts first

#13

Post by betenoire »

zippergz wrote: post #9

I'm not inherently opposed to a smarter order, but I feel like it (at least in the case of Facebook and Twitter so far) breaks a fundamental part of the use case for me. I check in every so often, and want to scroll back to the last post I saw, so I can know I saw everything. When it is sorted non-chronologically, this is impossible. I see the same thing multiple times because it's sorted near the top, and I miss som…

I feel relieved to read this. I thought I was losing my memory. Hadn't occurred to me that it was deliberate.

Re: Instagram is switching its feed from chronological to best posts first

#14

Post by jsprogrammer »

ryanolsonx wrote: post #2

Why do all of these social media companies ruin feeds like that? It would be fine if there was a seperate tab for 'best'.. I want to see things as they're posted. No fancy algorithms.

Reddit is Fun has a nice solution (though it's just an interface to reddit's core functionality): at the top of the screen you can select which ordering you want (time order, most points per time period, hotness).

Re: Instagram is switching its feed from chronological to best posts first

#17

Post by jonesb6 »

mod wrote: post #11
JohnTHaller wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the majority of social media users subscribe to more people/companies posting more things than the user could ever possibly read. Rather than users being overwhelmed with noise, getting frustrated, and possibly logging in less, social media companies come up with a way to show them enough content to keep them engaged and happy (and visiting the site/using the app) as long as possible.

Just make the old feed an option for "power users."

Except the real goal likely isn't usability, it's to show promoted content in with the real good content, ala Facebook, Twitter, Imgur, Reddit, Hacker News, the list goes on really.

Re: Instagram is switching its feed from chronological to best posts first

#18

Post by nissimk »

dkarapetyan wrote: post #6

This makes sense. Gotta wean people off chronology to sell them the "best" ads.

I believe the algorithmic ordering is intended to optimize other variables such as "time on site," because if you stay longer they can show you more ads. It seems like the conspiracy stuff would be much harder to actually do, like manipulating the content to influence you to click on more ads.
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