Instagram's Chronological Feed Is Back!

Missed seeing Instagram’s chronological feed? Well, your prayers have been answered as the Meta-owned platform has officially rolled out two feed options: Favourites and Following, where the latter displays content in reverse chronological order. Furthermore, Instagram has also allowed users to privately ‘like’ Stories. Read on for more details.

Two new Instagram feed options: ‘Following’ or ‘Favourites’

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A post shared by Adam Mosseri (@mosseri)

Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri introduced the launch of the two feed options.

Following displays content from the accounts that we follow in a reverse chronological manner. The second option, Favourites, is a brand new feed option that will serve users with content from up to 50 accounts that the user chooses. The Verge reported that Adam Mosseri, the Head of Instagram, uses Favourites for his “siblings, certain creators and friends.”

The two new feed options are now available globally. Have they appeared on yours? To try out this feature, simply tap on the Instagram logo on the left corner of your feed. 

Previously tested: 'Home', 'Following' and 'Favourites'

Left - Instagram had tested three feed options. Right - ‘Favourites’, a new feed option. (Photos from: @mosseri)

In January this year, Adam revealed that the platform was testing three feed options including Home. Home uses an algorithm to rank each user’s feed content based on their interests and had created quite a stir when it was first introduced in 2016.

Many voiced their preferences for seeing content that comes only from accounts that they follow. It appears that with the platform's latest announcement, users will choose from two feed options, as opposed to three.

‘Liking’ Instagram Stories

(Photo from: cottonbro via Pexels)

Instagram has also rolled out a feature that allows users to privately like Stories. According to Tech Crunch, only the account that has posted the story is able to view the total number of likes. This feature may come in handy to help accounts better measure the engagement that they receive on Stories, in addition to other metrics such as impressions, accounts reached and more.

What are your thoughts on these new features?

(Cover photos from: @mosseri)

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