It’s similar to Facebook’s algorithm for the news feed

Jun 3, 2016 21:15 GMT  ·  By

Instagram’s original algorithm displayed all user posts at the top of the feed in a chronological order, so that users could swipe the screen down in order to see what their friends have shared. Now, it seems that Instagram changed the algorithm and made it resemble the one on Facebook, which shows relevant posts at the top of the feed.

Back in March, Instagram announced that it was working on a new algorithm for user feeds, one that would display all relevant posts first, as opposed to a chronological order. It announced that images and videos would be arranged based on content that users would be interested in, but still making sure that they don’t miss out.

However, a few days after the announcement was made, Instagram revealed that the update wasn’t yet in place. Now, it seems that Instagram will go ahead and implement the new algorithm. The update will start rolling out in the following weeks.

On its blog, Instagram revealed that the small group of users who received the new re-ordering feature were much more active in the application. It seems that that portion of the user base, liked more photos and posted more comments, compared to those who received posts in a chronological order in the feed.

Instagram motivated this decision saying that on average, people miss 70% of their feeds and the new re-ordering should bring only the relevant posts at the top. Moreover, the company now reached a user base of 400 million monthly users and continues to expand massively. The app is available on Android and iOS, with a changed icon and design.