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Instagram and the Algorithm

 Instagram first hit the scene around 13 years ago in 2010. Like everything else, and especially in terms of technology, the platform has evolved and went through major changes. I remember when I was 14 years old in 2015 and first heard of Instagram through my friends. I honestly had no idea what the main idea was but my friends used it mainly because it was like Facebook and Twitter but better. When I got it for the first time, I agreed with my friends. It has always been a user-friendly platform and really simple to see the latest from who you follow.

There have been some changes to the platform, however. In 2012, Facebook owner Mark Zuckerburg worked out a big deal to purchase Instagram. He bought the platform for around $1 billion! Over the last 13 years, the value of Instagram has increased significantly. According to Google, the social media platform is now valued at over $34 billion! With this purchase, however, came the changes. Some of the most important changes happened around 2015 and 2016.



Prior to 2016, Instagram was a very timely and chronological social media app, much like Facebook. The algorithm was different than it is now. Since 2016, the app has become more of what Instagram thinks they want you to see. Much like TikTok uses their algorithm and how there is a "For You" page consisting of people you follow and who TikTok thinks you would like based on who you follow and what you like. Unfortunately for Instagram, this didn't work out the way they wanted it to. According to the book, "People were missing 70% of all the posts in their feed, including content from close connections." I really feel like this hurts the app because 70% is a huge number. Now more than ever I will get on Instagram and see posts from days ago that I have already interacted with. A feature that helps with this is to make sure to click Following instead of Favorites in the top left corner where the logo is.



This year, Instagram seems to be going all the way in with their "Reels" feature. These reels are much like TikTok videos and much like Facebook reels. It's not surprising seeing both Facebook and Instagram correlating in what they change and add to their platforms. I don't use or share reels on Instagram but I like the feature. It is a bit odd how every popular social media platform is becoming more and more like the others. 





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  1. AnonymousFebruary 22, 2023 at 1:25 PM

    Chase Coburn: I am seeing a lot of platforms copy each other as you said reels are starting to spread on Instagram but that was from TikTok, such as snapchat introducing the "BeReal" aspect to it's platform. Even TikTok used "BeReal" way for their platform. It seems once one platform creates something new and original then its soon to be copied.

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