Get ready to start seeing Instagram posts out of chronological order.
Instagram is going to start showing posts in its app through an algorithmic feed, similar to how its parent company Facebook displays posts in its News Feed. Instagram's two co-founders announced the change in an interview with The New York Times on Tuesday.
Introducing an algorithmic feed is the biggest change Instagram has made since it started letting users share photos in different sizes in August 2015.
"You may be surprised to learn that people miss on average 70 percent of their feeds," Instagram said in a blog post. "As Instagram has grown, it’s become harder to keep up with all the photos and videos people share. This means you often don’t see the posts you might care about the most."
But don't freak out: an algorithmic feed will be introduced "a series of small tests with a single-digit percentage of user groups before deciding whether to introduce the changes broadly," the Times notes.
The app, which has 400 million monthly users, recently started showing calendar dates next to posts instead of how many hours ago they were posted.
"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 said on its blog. "As we begin, we’re focusing on optimizing the order — all the posts will still be there, just in a different order."
