One of the most common criticisms of Instagram concerns the way the service handles the flow of users.
In 2017, Instagram replaced its timeline feed with an algorithmic feed that decides what to show on the homepage when you open the app. If we are not close to finding the chronological flow, Instagram is working on a new feature that lets you choose what you see in the timeline.
As Instagram explains in a blog post published Earlier this year, the algorithm used a variety of cues, including information about the post, who posted, your activity, and your interaction history with someone. While this looks good in theory, it also means that you would miss out on important posts from your friends who are not actively posting on Instagram. That might change soon, as Instagram is reportedly working on a new feature to give you more control over what you browse.
According to Alessandro Paluzzi, Instagram may soon let you choose between Home, Follow, and Favorites for the feed. This way, you can choose to avoid suggested posts when you inevitably see the “You’re all caught up” banner after hours of scrolling.
#Instagram is working to allow you to choose what to see in the timeline by choosing between: home, following and favorites ???? pic.twitter.com/Vjl3cKXnN9
– Alessandro Paluzzi (@ alex193a) October 29, 2021
In case you didn’t know, Favorites are the equivalent of what we currently have for Stories, namely the “Close Friends” list. Once available, you can choose your favorite Instagram accounts and they will appear higher in the feed.
Perfect for your flow
When you set your Instagram feed to Favorites, you will only see posts from accounts that are on your Favorites list. You can add a total of 50 people to your favorites list, and posts from those accounts will have a pin icon (????) in the feed.
#Instagram is working on “Favorites” ????
ℹ️ Posts from your favorites are shown higher in feed. pic.twitter.com/NfBd8v4IHR
– Alessandro Paluzzi (@ alex193a) September 9, 2021
While the spotted change isn’t as convenient as a timeline feed, it could be the right antidote to helping you cut down on your screen time while staying up to date with your close friends. We’ll have to wait and see when Instagram plans to roll out these much-needed timeline changes.
–
