You may have seen the “Following” feed option on social media websites like Twitter and TikTok but not on Instagram and Facebook. The following feed option is where you can only see the latest posts and updates from accounts that you’re following in the app.
Do you want Instagram or Facebook to add this option?
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri addressed this exact question during his weekly Q and A session last week. He further explained in his answer why more and more social media apps are all now moving towards more algorithm-defined recommendations-based feeds.
Here is what he said during his Q and A.
“Of course we’ve thought about it, and we’ve tested it and tried it a number of times. Every time we have, there’s a sub-group of people who are happy, there’s a bunch of people who forget that they’re in it, and then overall, everybody who’s in it uses Instagram less and less over time, and when we ask them questions like ”how satisfied are you with Instagram?”, they actually report being less happy with Instagram more and more over time, on average. And then there’s these second order effects where their friends start using Instagram less [and] because they use it less, they send less likes and comments, messages, and then there’s all of this other stuff, and it just gets worse and worse, and quickly.”
So, to sum it up, Instagram has tried this many times in the past and every time they’ve tried it, the platform has seen less engagement overall and less user satisfaction.
Instagram now uses an AI-based recommendation process for 50% of content on the platform.
Social media companies use this approach because it enhances the user experience and keeps people using the app for longer. While some people may find it annoying, this has been well-received by most users.
It’s simple, they do it because it works.
Mosserri further explains “There’s a need here, right? There’s clearly a group of people who really want to get to their connections’ content quickly. We’ve tried to help by creating a Following feed, allowing you to Snooze recommendations for a month, creating Favorites so you can make sure you never miss anything from accounts that you really want to see everything from, but I’m sure there’s more we can do and we’re going to continue to explore more in the space.”
Sorry, No post were found
