Written by Allison Herrera
Instagram’s objective is keeping users *cough* you *cough* on the app & consuming content for as long as possible…so, the app is undergoing the biggest change for its feed! Adam Mosseri (the head of Instagram) released information that the app will soon have three different home feeds which users can toggle between. Keep reading & learn about the three variations.
Home
The “Home” feed is the way your Instagram feed currently appears based on what the app’s AI system believes you want to see, which shows that the app is beginning to take on more & more of TikTok’s traits by the day. IG’s new & improved “Home” feed will greatly resemble TikTok’s “For You Page” (aka their feed) mixed in with the algorithm IG introduced in 2016, which is filtered by engagement between you & the accounts on the feed. This feed makes discovering new accounts easy, based on your your current engagement.
Favorite
The “Favorite” feed is a way for you to stay on top of content from accounts you don’t want to miss out on. You can add people to your favorites list & IG will ensure you will see their posts, since this feed isn’t oversaturated & curated based on your selective list. This is a good opportunity for you to use it as a close friends list or create a list based on specific hobbies or industries. Perhaps you don’t want to miss out on your BFF’s content, or maybe you don’t want your favorite chef’s IG recipe videos lost in the sauce (no pun intended).
Following
The “Following” feed is definitely a blast from the past, as it focuses on chronological order. Who else is feeling the 2010 vibes?! Posts in this feed are shown in the order in which they are posted – regardless of whether or not you recently engaged with them. That goes against the current algorithm, which is pumped up by engagement. This is a dream for people who are tired of seeing posts on their feed from five days ago.
With the goal of engagement in mind, these three different feeds ensure just that – showing what the app thinks you want to see (“Home” feed), showing what users decide they want to see (“Favorite” feed), & showing real-time content that isn’t buried from days prior (“Following” feed). By incorporating all three of these feed options, there is no way users will miss a thing & will experience a boost in comments/likes/shares on content posted!
