Are you freaking out right now because your Instagram feed has been overrun by warnings about changes being made to your feed "tomorrow"? Perhaps you've run across posts that ask you to "turn on notifications" lest you never see photos from the friends and celebs you follow again? Take a deep breath and read on for some semi-reassuring words.
What is Instagram doing and why does it hate me?
Instagram is moving from a chronological feed to an algorithmic one that's based on how much you engage with an account. "The order of photos and videos in your feed will be based on the likelihood you'll be interested in the content, your relationship with the person posting and the timeliness of the post," Instagram says. As for why it hates you, really I couldn't say.
This sounds like that annoying thing Facebook does with News Feed.
Yes, yes it does. You want to know why it does? Because Facebook owns Instagram.
Is this happening now? Like RIGHT NOW?!
No. Instagram wants to assure you that it's not happening right now and that it will alert you to when things change.
We're listening and we assure you nothing is changing with your feed right now. We promise to let you know when changes roll out broadly. — Instagram (@instagram) March 28, 2016
What can I do to stop this?
There's nothing you can do to stop Instagram from making the change, despite the #keepinstagramchronological movement. But if you regularly like and comment on your favorite accounts, you should still see their content on a regular basis. (Twitter, meanwhile, is doing the same thing, but you can turn it off.) Also, Instagram insists that "As we begin, we're focusing on optimizing the order — all the posts will still be there, just in a different order." So rest assured, you probably won't miss out on too much.
Should I turn notifications on? All these accounts keep telling me I should.
Not unless you want to get a notification every single time that account posts a photo. (So, probably: no.)
How concerned are you personally?
Not very. Mostly I just follow lots of dogs on Instagram. So I'm still going to get lots of photos of dogs. I suggest you do the same.