Kendall and Kylie Jenner criticise controversial new Instagram feature
'Don’t fix something that isn’t broken,' says Kendall Jenner
Instagram’s plan to change how content is ordered has prompted some degree of criticism from its users. Under the new algorithm, the social media giant will no longer list posts in chronological order and will instead prioritise the posts it thinks you want to see first.
Those against the change view it as an attempt by Instagram to interfere with users' feeds and curate their content. A number of prominent figures have criticised the changes: Kendall and Kylie Jenner are at the forefront of this backlash.
“Don’t fix something that isn’t broken,” Kendall, who has 52.6 million Instagram followers, tweeted. While, Kylie tweeted, “This whole Instagram update is just so down the line you'll have to pay Instagram to be at the top of the feed”. It’s worth noting that the two youngest sisters of the Kardashian clan have garnered much of their following via the site.
Kylie also explained the finer details of the changes in a post on her own Instagram account. In her own words, she wrote: “Instagram is changing out of chronological order so let's say you love someone's photos but don't physically “like” their pics they will bump them to the bottom. It's called INSTAgram for a reason. I don't really understand it and there has to be another motive because you follow people for a reason..”
Despite it being widely rumoured that changes will be rolled out today, Instagram told The Independent that this is not the case and the changes are still in their testing phase.
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Show all 10"There are still weeks, or even months, of testing to come before we roll this out more broadly. Currently the test groups are very small. We will let the community know before any changes are made," said a company spokesperson.
Some Instagram users are so unhappy about the proposed changes that they are asking their followers to turn on notifications so they are informed every time they upload a new image. The hashtag #turnmeon is trending, with many users posting photos about the changes on their accounts.
But Girls creator, Lena Dunham, has made it known that she will not be turning on her notifications.
American singer, John Mayer, also criticised the feature on his own account last week. “My tastes, interest and curiosities change every day; if I’m not even sure what’s relevant to me, how will you know?” he asked.
The social media site, which is now owned by Facebook, announced the changes on March 15 and shared a blog post on their own website explaining the reasoning behind the feature. “You may be surprised to learn that people miss on average 70 per cent of their feeds. 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,” the company wrote.
Since its inception back in October of 2010, the tremendously popular photo-sharing site has grown rapidly, having now amassed 400 million users.
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