Instagram will begin to show users ‘recommended’ posts from accounts that they don’t follow in a bid to bolster engagement.
The platform will suggest posts within users’ main feeds based on what their friends have ‘liked’, as well as what accounts they follow, according to Techcrunch, which reports that the update began rolling out earlier this month. A new, clearly-labeled ‘Recommended For You’ section will comprise three to five different post options.
Recommended content was previously available in the ‘Explore’ tab — though transitioning suggestions into users’ home feeds represents a relatively major change to Instagram’s user interface. The update is undoubtedly bound to frustrate users, who were also miffed when Instagram transitioned from a chronological feed to one governed by an algorithm last year. In a similar bid to expand the kind of content that turns up in users’ follow feeds, the company introduced the ability to follow hashtags earlier this month.
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Instagram told Techcrunch that the ‘recommended’ feature is available on both iOS and Android, but that the ‘Recommended For You’ section will only appear after users have viewed all of the posts in their feeds.
