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How to adjust instagram feed


How to Switch Your Instagram Feed to a Chronological Timeline

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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Meta owns Instagram. Getty
  • Instagram reintroduced the option for users to view a chronological feed.
  • The platform got rid of its chronological feed in favor of engagement-based rankings in 2016.
  • Here's how to turn on a chronological Instagram feed.

For the first time in six years, you can view your Instagram feed in chronological order.

Instagram on Wednesday gave users the option to switch to a chronological feed. The platform's feed used to be purely chronological until 2016, when it changed to an engagement-based feed that introduced posts from accounts users didn't follow.

Critics, including the Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, said Meta's focus on engagement can promote harmful or divisive content. Haugen told a Senate hearing in October that she believed that replacing engagement-based ranking with chronological feeds is one way of making Meta's various platforms safer.

Like Facebook, Instagram lets you toggle the chronological feed but does not let you set it as your default feed. This means you'll need to manually turn on the chronological option every time you open the app.

Here's how to switch on your chronological feed:

Load the app on your phone and click on the Instagram logo in the top, left-hand corner.

Instagram/Insider

This will take you to a version of your feed in which you see posts from only the accounts you follow, in chronological order.

Instagram/Insider

Instagram has also added a "favorites" option, which allows you to create a slimmed-down chronological feed that displays posts only from selected accounts.

Instagram/Insider

When you click on "favorites," you'll be invited to add accounts to your list of favorite accounts.

Instagram/Insider

Once you add accounts to your favorites you'll have the option to view posts from them in order by clicking on the "favorites" tab, and posts from them will also appear higher in your regular feed.

Instagram's chronological-feed option is available only on its iOS and Android apps, not on the web.

A Meta spokesperson told Insider the company has no plans to bring the feature to the web version.

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7 Ways to Change Instagram Feed in 2022

Instagram has slowly grown to be one of the most popular image-sharing platforms in the world. You can even share videos, shorts, and reels all the while enjoying the perks of their refined algorithm.

In addition to this Instagram recently introduced the ability to have more control over your feed, something that already existed but was taken away in 2016. So how does this new feature help you customize your home feed? Let’s find out!

How is the Instagram feed curated?

Instagram currently curates your feed based on your activity on the platform. The algorithm takes into account your behavior, your likes, your dislikes, your followers, people you follow, people your followers and you follow, how much time you spend on a post, and much more when curating your home feed.

This detailed curation allows the algorithm to serve you what is best for you while also ensuring that Instagram can serve ads that will be the most relevant to you.

This automatic curation has its drawbacks apart from privacy concerns. Mainly, the inability to view posts chronologically or to simply view posts from a certain set of people. Thankfully all that is about to change now, let’s find out more.  

Related: Is There Any Way To See How Many Times Someone Views Your Instagram Story?

Can you change your Instagram feed?

Yes, you can now change your home feed on Instagram. The feature was recently teased by Instagram head-on Twitter through a video explaining the new options. The ability to change your feed still seems to be in the beta stages and is only available to a select few users for now.

However, Instagram seems to be planning a gradual rollout in the coming months, although the company hasn’t indicated a release date yet.  

How to change your Instagram feed in 7 Ways

You can now use these latest features from Instagram in conjunction with existing features to customize your home feed in many ways. Choose either of the options below that seems to fit your needs and requirements. 

1. Sort posts chronologically

This is quite simple, if you have the latest Instagram alpha then you can tap the drop-down arrow in the top left corner of your screen and select ‘Following’. This will show you all posts from people you follow, sorted chronologically.

2. Sort posts from special people you follow

You need to have created a favorites list for this to work. If you haven’t marked users as favorite yet, simply head to a profile and mark them as favorite. Once you do so, a Pin icon will be added beside their profile which can then be used to identify your favorites. Posts from these accounts will also be marked with the same icon. 

Now that you have a favorites list, go to your home page, tap on the drop-down menu in the top left corner and select ‘Favorites’. Your feed will now be sorted to display posts only from your favorites in chronological order. 

3. Remove irrelevant posts by unfollowing users

At this point, if you are further looking to curate your feed then we recommend you unfollow users that are no longer relevant to you. We all follow new people on Instagram until they get buried deep in your following list only to be found years later.

It’s time to clean your account and unfollow users that are no longer relevant to you. This will help curate your feed and more importantly ensure that you get content that you care about. 

Related: How to Save or Download Instagram Reels to Your Phone Gallery, Camera Roll or Storage

4. Improve Instagram suggestions by providing feedback

You can provide feedback when using the default home feed to help the AI curate your feed better. Reporting, unfollowing, and hiding posts from your feed are all cues for the algorithm which are taken into account the next time similar content is served to you.

Doing this regularly will help train the AI in serving you better content that is more relevant to you. 

Tap the ‘3-dot’ menu icon on a concerned post and select your desired option.

When reporting a post, ensure that you specify and do not misreport the post. In case you just wish to see less of such posts, select ‘Hide’. 

In addition to the following options, you can also tap on ‘Why you’re seeing this post’ to know more details about what made the AI show you this post. 

5. Turn on notifications for important accounts

This is another way in which you can curate your home feed and ensure that you are up to date with the latest information from accounts that you care about. You can turn on notifications for certain accounts so that you are notified each time they publish something new.

To turn on notifications for an account follow the guide below to help you along with the process. 

Open Instagram and visit the concerned account. Now tap the bell icon in the top right corner of your screen. 

Now turn on the notifications you wish to receive for certain content posted by the selected account. You have the following options at your disposal. 

  • Posts: You will get notifications whenever the account publishes new posts. 
  • Stories: Instagram will send you a notification each time the account posts a new story. 
  • Videos: You will receive a notification whenever a new video is published by the account. 
  • Reels: This option will allow you to receive notifications whenever new Reels are published by the concerned account.
  • Goes live: Use this option to manage how you receive notifications about ‘Instagram Live’ sessions from the selected account.  
    • Get all notifications: You will be notified about each live session regardless of its content, topic and subject.  
    • Get some notifications: Instragram’s algorithm will send you notifications for live sessions hosted by the account where the content will be relevant to you. This could be regarding the things you follow, hashtags that you are most active on, things that you post about, and more. 
    • Turn off notifications: This option helps you turn off all live session notifications for the account regardless of their content. 

And that’s it! You will now have turned on notifications for the selected account and you will now be notified each time there is new content that interests you. 

Related: How to copy an Instagram caption or comment

6. Reset your explore feed

Apart from reels and your home feed, you can also customize and reset your Explore feed on Instagram. This is a little-known fact but you can clear your search and explore history within the app whenever you want. This will help you reset your explore feed and get new suggestions while you are at it.  Follow the guides below to clear your search history and reset the Explore page.

6.1 Reset explore page

Open the Instagram app and tap on your profile picture in the bottom right corner of your screen. 

Tap the menu icon in the top right corner of your screen now and select ‘Settings’.

Tap and select ‘Security’. 

Now tap on ‘Search history’ at the bottom.

Tap on ‘Clear all’ to delete all your searches. You can also choose to individually remove your searches by tapping on the ‘X’ beside them.

 

Once done, close and re-open the Instagram app on your device. The explore page should now have been reset. 

6.2 Curate explore page

If you don’t wish to clear your search history and completely reset the Explore page, you can choose to curate it instead. You can do this by clearing individual unwanted searches from your history and subsequently by letting Instagram know about the posts you don’t wish to see.

Follow the guide below to help you along with the process. 

Open the Instagram app and tap on your profile picture. 

Now tap the menu icon in the top right and select ‘Settings’. 

Tap on ‘Security’. 

Now tap on ‘Search history’. 

Tap on ‘X’ beside a search term that you would like to remove from this list. This will affect your Explore page as well as how Instagram serves you new posts.

 

Once you are done, tap the Explore page icon at the bottom of your screen. Now look for a post that is not relevant to you, once found, tap on it.

Tap the ‘3-dot’ menu icon in the top right corner. 

Select ‘Not interested’. 

And that’s it! Repeat the steps above to let Instagram know about posts that are irrelevant to you and the algorithm should automatically curate your Explore page accordingly. 

7. Manage Story and Reel notifications

Notifications are a great way to stay up to date with your home feed, however, if you are subscribed to someone who posts a lot, then this can end up being annoying.

You can manage your notifications easily within Instagram and even turn them on for users that are important to you. Follow the relevant guide below to help you along with the process. 

7.1 Turn on Notifications

Open Instagram and visit a profile for which you would like to receive notifications. Tap on the bell icon in the top right corner. 

Now turn on the notifications you would like to receive from the concerned user. You have the following options at your disposal. 

  • Posts
  • Stories
  • Videos
  • Reels
  • Live Videos

Once turned on, you can sit back and relax as you will now be notified every time the user posts something. 

7.2 Mute/Turn off notifications

You can use the guide above to turn off notifications by simply tapping on the toggle again. But did you know that you can mute users on Instagram as well?

This will prevent you from seeing their latest posts and reels in case you wish to take a break from someone. Follow the steps below to help you along with the process.

Open Instagram and visit an account that you would like to mute, tap on ‘Following’ once there. 

Note: You can not mute users that you do not follow. 

Tap on ‘Mute’. 

Now choose the content you wish to mute from the concerned account. You can choose from the following two options. Tap on the desired toggle to turn it on or off. 

  • Posts
  • Stories

You can now close and re-open the app for the changes to take effect and you should no longer see posts and stories in your home feed from the concerned account.  

FAQs

Instagram constantly keeps changing its UI and renaming elements which end up being quite cumbersome for everyone. Here are a few commonly asked questions about Instagram and its changes, that should help you get quickly up to speed. 

How to remove favorites from Instagram?

Removing favorites as of now is the same as adding them. Simply visit the concerned profile and use the option at the top to un-favorite them. Once done, they will be removed from your favorites list and you will no longer receive their posts in your ‘Favorites’ feed. 

When will I get the new sorting feature of Instagram?

We don’t know as of writing this post, Instagram has been tight-lipped about the release date though user reports make it seem it should happen in the coming months. The feature does not seem to be region locked as using a VPN does nothing.

Additionally, the latest alpha from Instagram seems to have the feature but random users can use it, and even more or not. 

Judging by this, the feature is still in its early phases and could take at least a couple of weeks before seeing a final stable release. 

Can you restrict someone without blocking them?

Yes, Instagram has this exact feature to restrict certain accounts that you don’t wish to block. Follow the guide below to restrict someone on Instagram.  

Open Instagram and visit the concerned account that you wish to restrict. Tap on ‘Following’ once you are there. 

Select ‘Restrict’. 

Tap on ‘Restrict account’ again to confirm your choice. 

And that’s it! The selected account will now be restricted to Instagram. Their interactions with you and the content you post will now be limited on the platform. 

Why do I see old posts at the top of my feed?

This is because you are using the default sorting algorithm for your home feed which was the only choice until now. Instagram uses your online as well as platform activity to show you posts that the algorithm thinks are more relevant to you.

This is why you get older posts from accounts you interact with at the top of your home feed when using the default sorting layout. You can change this and sort your posts chronologically using the guide at the top. 

Can I remove certain users from appearing in my feed?

Yes, you can restrict users to stop seeing their posts in your feed. You can also block users if you wish to completely remove them from your experience. Additionally, you can also create a personalized list of favorites where you won’t have to view the concerned user’s content altogether.

Use either of these methods to prevent someone from appearing in your home feed. If you need any help, you can refer to our guides at the top of this post. 

Can I hide posts from my feed?

Yes, you can easily hide posts from your feed. Tap the 3-dot menu icon in the top right corner of the post and select ‘Hide’. The post will then be hidden from your feed and you won’t see it again. You can change this by tapping on ‘Undo’ or further taking action on the content by reporting it.

If you wish to avoid contact with the concerned account in the future then Instagram will also give you shortcuts to help you unfollow and block the account. 

How is hiding a post different from reporting?

Hiding a post hides only that post from your home feed. It could be something sensitive or something you care about that you don’t wish to view when browsing Instagram. Hiding is a personal choice and does not report the account/post to Instagram. 

Reporting, however, is the act of bringing Instagram’s attention to posts that violate the rules and privacy of the platform.

This helps make the platform a better place while allowing you to get rid of malicious content posted by users. Reporting will not hide the post from your feed and you might re-encounter it on the Explore page as well. 

We hope this post helped you easily customize your Instagram feed. If you have any more questions, feel free to drop them in the comments section below.

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rules of survival - Dark site of marketing

You must have heard the scary story that Instagram will never be the same again? Everything flows, everything changes, and the Instagram feed changes along with all this. Soon posts will be displayed not according to the principle of “novelty”, but according to the principle of “interesting” for the user. What does this mean and how to live with it - let's try to figure it out.

Instagram Feed Changes

Initially, the news feed on Instagram was formed on a temporary basis. That is, the posts of friends in your feed were displayed in order: someone just posted - this photo appears in the feed first, who posted 10 hours ago - this photo is lower in the feed, you have to scroll to it.

At the beginning of March, Instagram announced on its blog that it turns out that we are skipping about 70% of the posts in our feeds. And we need to do something about it. As a result, it was decided to make the Instagram feed look like a Facebook feed. In the Facebook feed, posts are displayed according to the principle of "interest" for the user. Those posts that the user is most likely to be interested in facebook raises higher in the feed. Those posts that are probably of less interest to the user are lowered (in fairness it should be noted that in the facebook settings you can choose the type of feed: popular news or the latest).

How to determine which post is interesting and which is not? Instagram itself says that this will be determined by user behavior. Account posts that the user likes and comments on will appear in his feed above others.

What does this mean? This means that even if you have 100,500 followers, but they don't like or comment on your posts, soon they won't see your photos in their feeds at all. No, at first all posts will remain in the feeds, only their order will change. But whether they get through to your publication is a question.

Don't panic

With the release of the announcement of a new feed on the Instagram blog, life was divided into “before” and “after”. People created a petition asking them to cancel the innovations, and perhaps they didn’t go to rallies. Then a new wave of panic came and everyone posted pictures asking them to turn on notifications for new posts. With each new such post, the versions changed: if in the morning they were asked to turn on notifications so as not to simply miss posts, then in the evening they began to ask to turn on notifications so that posts would appear in the feed at all.

As a result, instead of subscribing, users began unsubscribing from those who posted such calls to “keep up”. So survival #1: Don't panic.

Post interesting content

Now officially on Instagram, texts have become as important as beautiful photos. If up to this point you have sinned by publishing photos without captions or with only tags, then don’t do it again. Start adding descriptions to your posts, and it is desirable that it be informative and interesting. Even better, if your posts evoke emotions: laughter, anger, the desire to argue and prove - this is good, because these are comments and holivar. And if you are commented on, then you are interested - here, please, put your post above the rest.

Funny and useful content will also work well, because they are willingly shared with friends by tagging them in the comments.

Tag other people

If you publish a post, talk about someone, or publish a text inspired by another blogger, tag it in your post. He will receive a notification that he was marked, he will go to your account, read, maybe even like and comment. All this is interaction with your account, which, in theory, should be counted as interest.

Chat with followers

If people write comments to you and you ignore them, soon people will get tired of writing to you. No one is interested in a one-way conversation. Unless you are Ksyusha Borodina, then ok, no one is waiting for an answer from you.

Moreover, a comment can be turned into a dialogue, and the user will come back to answer you, and again, and again, and again . ..

Use a call to action

If you sincerely think that you post interesting content, you are sure that you have live subscribers, but they still do not like or comment on your publications, ask them what is wrong. Ask for help, let the readers themselves tell you what they don't like. Maybe you make good posts, but not about that?

Vkontaktovsky option “Do you like it? Like it!" can also be used. Moreover, the call options may be different:

● Would you like more articles on this topic? Like!

● If the post gets 1000 likes, I'll tell you how...

● Would you like a discount? Like.

● If the post gets 1000 likes, there will be a sale tomorrow.

Cooperation with bloggers with an active audience

Not everyone loves and is used to leaving comments and likes on the posts of strangers and shops. Many people just read silently. But there are a number of people who come to Instagram to communicate. If you have found a blogger with an active audience, then this audience is already ready to communicate. She will not need to be "rocked", she only needs to be given a new platform for comments - your account.

Therefore, negotiate joint promotions, marathons, advertising and other forms of cooperation with such bloggers. However, please note that your account must be conducive to communication. If you publish photos taken in the dark with a flash, and even without a signature, no matter how the blogger promotes you, this will not give an effect.

Official targeted ads on Instagram

You can advertise single posts on facebooke. It is likely that such a function will appear in Instagram (yet it is not). But targeted advertising is already there.

If you sell through Instagram, then such advertising allows you to transfer the target audience directly to the sales page (website or landing page). The main thing is to correctly set up advertising on Instagram and that the receiving page is adapted for mobile devices.

BONUS!

We analyzed all the Instagram posting solutions available today and chose OnlyPult as the best tool for Instagram marketing automation:

  • Scheduling and auto-posting to Instagram (scheduled posting)

  • Unlimited photo and video upload to Instagram from computer

  • Multi-accounting (managing several accounts at the same time)

  • Analytics

  • Can be tested for a week for free

Finally

Well, I hope your eyes don’t start to twitch nervously from the phrase “new rules on Instagram” anymore? Don't worry, we'll learn to live with it too. And while the new rules are not fully operational, there is just time to learn, stir up your followers and understand how to use it all.

Good luck!

Author: Elena Piskareva

Instagram promotion specialist without a budget. Author of the blog www.naoblakax.ru

Join the Dark Side! Send your content to [email protected]

Instagram will return the in-app timeline in 2022

  • Forbes Life
The feature is expected to return in the first quarter of 2022 (Photo by Getty Images)

Timeline feed will return to Instagram, 5 years after the app developers replaced it with an algorithmic counterpart that determines user preferences. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri said that this will most likely happen in the first quarter of 2022.0118

“We believe in greater transparency and accountability. We are currently working on a version of the timeline that we hope to launch next year," TechCrunch quotes Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri's speech before a U.S. Senate committee. A hearing about the potential harm of the social network for children and teenagers was held on December 8. So Mosseri answered the question of whether he believes it is right that consumers should be able to use Instagram without "manipulating the algorithms."

He noted that he would like to give an exact launch date, but there is none yet. Mosseri, however, expects to bring the feature back to the app in the first quarter of 2022. It is planned that users will have a choice: enable the chronological feed feature or leave the current one. According to Mosseri, Instagram "has been experimenting for several years now to give users more control over their experience on the app. " For example, in September 2021, developers began testing the “Favorites” function: with its help, you can select the most important accounts that will be displayed first in the feed. This will create a list of priority accounts.

In 2016, Instagram replaced the chronological feed with a “smart” one: an algorithm determines user preferences, and posts are sorted according to this principle. Although at that time it was already becoming the rule for the functioning of social networks (as it improves the engagement rate), users of the application were extremely unhappy.

“Mosseri swore under oath that users would actually be able to see posts chronologically. However, it is unlikely that Instagram will make this the default or the obvious choice in principle, given the advantages that the algorithm provides in terms of user retention in the application, TechCrunch notes.

Later on the official Instagram Comms Twitter account, the company clarified that the feed will not be available by default, users will be able to choose the option that suits them best. “We want people to have a lot of control over their experience. We're experimenting with Favorites, the ability to decide whose posts you want to see higher, and working on another option that allows you to see the posts of people you follow in chronological order. We want to clarify that we are creating new options - giving people more choices so that they can decide what suits them best, and not putting everyone back on the timeline, ”the company said.

Related material

On December 8, Mosseri testified for the first time about reports that Facebook and Instagram knew social media was causing serious psychological problems for teens, and not only didn't take any action, but exacerbated the situation as it boosts user engagement. Ahead of the hearing, Mosseri said Instagram is rolling out a number of features that will "make it safer for teens." This is, for example, the Take A Break program, which sends notifications to the user with a certain frequency that they need to take a break from watching the feed.

Learn more