Remember the good old days, when Instagram was a free-for-all?
You could post three pictures in a row. If the top of your friend’s face wasn’t in the picture because you just had to use the weird frame with the numbers on it that goes with the Nashville filter, all was resolved with a #sorrynotsorry slapped at the end of your caption.
Three likes was a success.
Instagram circa 2012 was the time to be alive.
Fast forward to today. It’s 2016. The Internet is essentially falling apart at the seams because Instagram has announced an update in its algorithm that will change the newsfeed we’ve grown accustomed to.
If you’ve seen the thousands of “TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS” Instagram posts in the past few days, you’re probably looking for an explanation.
Here’s the best I can do (given Instagram’s vague response to our collective meltdown):
According to the Guardian, all of the photos that are posted by the people you follow will still be on your newsfeed. They just won’t be in chronological order anymore. Instagram will “soon” (nobody knows when) begin ordering posts by which ones they think are the most important to you.
So yes, you will still see everyone’s photos, even if you don’t turn on notifications for their posts.
In fact, the update will probably be a good thing, because now you probably won’t miss your friends’ posts.
Have you ever missed the opportunity to throw your best friend a like on her killer selfie because she posted it while you were in class? Instagram has estimated that with the current newsfeed, users miss 70% of their friend’s posts. Hopefully, the new Instagram newsfeed will prevent this from happening.
Facebook used to be chronological, too. (Remember all of those petitions you signed to get the “old Facebook” back in high school? Well, you never did get it back, and odds are, you probably don’t even care anymore because the new Facebook works just fine.)
Now, Facebook shows you the posts you’ll probably be interested in first. For example, my friend posted a photo of her cute puppy 14 hours ago. That post was shown above a photo of a girl from my high school making out with her boyfriend posted 47 minutes ago, and I’m okay with that.
Thank you, Facebook, for understanding me. Here’s to hoping the Instagram update will provide me with a newsfeed that understands that I value some posts over others.
Celebrities are freaking out on because up until now, Instagram has been a free way to increase fame. They get paid by companies to promote products on Instagram, which is a pretty easy, profitable gig. Hollywoodlife.com estimates that Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid and Cara Delevingne can make up to $300,000 per Instagram post.
via: Man Repeller
Kylie Jenner has been on a bit of a Twitter rant since yesterday, suggesting that we’ll soon have to pay to get to the top of the Instagram newsfeed.
It totally makes sense that Kylie, who has become the queen of social media advertising, is bummed that she may have to pay to promote her lip kits in the future.
As someone who uses social media to publicize content, I’m often presented with the option to “boost posts” on Facebook and Twitter. For example, when I post an article I’ve written on Facebook or Twitter, I am given the option to boost my post by paying for it. The more money I pay, the wider the audience I can potentially reach. Personally, I’ve never paid to boost a post and I’ve never really had a problem using social media to promote content. (For example, if you’re reading this, you were able to find it even though I didn’t boost the social media post that had the link you clicked on. AKA, it’s all good.)
I’m going to guess that because Instagram is owned by Facebook, the update will follow the “boost post” model and people who want to be Insta-Famous may soon be able to pay for that coveted spot on the popular page.
So, yes, this update might kind of suck for small companies that don’t have the budget to pay for social media advertising that has always been popular because it’s free and interactive. However, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I think we’re all going to survive this update.
So, let’s all stay calm. Or, totally ditch Instagram and hop on the VSCO bandwagon. (Which I’m sOoOoo~ down for. VSCO is so fun and has no rules or likes. It’s like a throwback to Instagram before we cared about Instagram.)