Instagram to let users switch between chronological, recommended feeds

Instagram will let users switch between three different feeds on the app, including bringing back an option for content sorted in chronological order. 

Instagram head Adam Mosseri said Wednesday that the company is starting to test the options for three feeds and hopes to launch “the full experience” in the first half of this year. 

Users will be able to alternate between three feed options: Home, Favorites and Following. 

The “home” feed will include content sorted by the app’s algorithm. In 2016 Instagram switched to an algorithmic feed instead of displaying posts in chronological order. The new “home” feed option will include even more content recommendations over time, Mosseri said. 

Testing Feed Changes

We’re starting to test the ability to switch between three different views on your home screen (two of which would give you the option to see posts in chronological order):
– Home
– Favorites
– Following

We hope to launch these soon. More to come. ✌ pic.twitter.com/9zvB85aPSp

— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) January 5, 2022

The “following” feature will allow users to see posts from accounts they follow as they are posted in chronological order, similar to what users were familiar with before the platform’s change in 2016. 

The third option, “favorites,” will let users see content posted by accounts they mark as a favorite. 

Instagram’s update comes after the company has faced increased scrutiny, particularly about the impact it has on teens and children. 

Mosseri told senators in December that the app would again allow users to view content in chronological order. 

Mosseri testified before a Senate Commerce subcommittee last month as part of a series of hearings held after the release of internal documents about Instagram and Facebook, under the same parent company now named Meta. The documents, in part, included research suggesting Instagram worsened body image issues for 1 in 3 teen girls on the platform. 

Meta executives have said the internal documents that were widely reported mischaracterized the research.