Instagram has decided: suggested posts will be “mixed” with the posts of the accounts followed directly in the feed. Off to the second test, then it will be for everyone
The secret is all there: prolong the time users spend on the platform. So Instagram – which is undoubtedly one of the most popular social networks in the world – is sure to have found the method to increase traffic and the number of active users. The test started in recent months has given the hoped-for results, so the user base with the novelty in the test will be extended in the coming hours.
The ultimate goal – just stated – is to introduce on a permanent basis the suggested posts within the feed, along with the posts of the accounts followed. In other words, in a few months, provided that the last test gives the desired results, with photos and videos of friends, relatives, acquaintances and celebrities of various kinds we will find some posts suggested by the Instagram algorithm, the same that for a year now submits the posts that it considers of interest after seeing all the content shared by the people you follow. During the “final” test, the feature will be submitted to a limited number of English-speaking users, but the Facebook-controlled company did not want to specify the scope of the accounts involved in the latest test.
“It’s okay” or “It’s not okay” even for suggested posts
A Facebook spokesperson, speaking to TechCrunch colleagues, described the expansion of suggested posts as an extension of the Instagram feed, and that these will vary based on how everyone uses the app. Suggested posts will be placed before content from followed accounts or in between them.
Instagram won’t just be moving the feature from one section to another, but in parallel wants to give users more decision-making power. New commands, for example, that will allow everyone to express appreciation or disapproval for each of the recommended posts, as well as the possibility to hide the recommendations from the feed for 30 days, a kind of virtual equivalent of the post button for the alarm clock.
There will be the possibility to hide the recommendations for a fairly large period of time, during which only content published by accounts actually followed will appear.
Will there be full choice?
However, it is not certain that the algorithm used by Instagram to sense the content content content liked by each of the subscribers is flawless, so in this case you have two options: “instruct” the algorithm through a mechanism of likes or dislikes to be assigned to each advice displayed, or disable the advice for a month.
With this novelty, in fact, the Instagram feed will never remain devoid of content, and this could annoy those users who follow a small number of accounts and would prefer to continue to see only and exclusively the posts of the accounts followed. We hope that Instagram gives maximum choice, and then allow once launched the novelty in a stable to choose whether to have a feed with the “mix” of posts or not.