Kim, there’s likes that are dying. The Kardashians (so far: Kim, Kylie, and Kourtney) have all reposted an infographic (groundbreaking) from photographer Tati Bruening, who goes by @illumitati, condemning Instagram’s algorithm. “Make Instagram Instagram Again,” it reads. “(stop trying to be tiktok i just want to see cute photos of my friends.) Sincerely, Everyone.” Bruening also created a Change.org petition on July 22 calling to “BRING BACK CHRONOLOGICAL TIMELINES!” which at the time of this post reached over 163,000 online signatures. The original Instagram infographic has almost 2 million likes. Bruening, as well as the famous siblings, appear to be protesting the messy, out-of-order algorithm and soon-to-be even more video-heavy platform that Instagram has become. Kylie’s share, along with comments from Chrissy Teigen and James Charles, launched it into virality, reminding people of the last time she criticized an app in 2018 when she tweeted: “sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me …” Soon after, Snapchat lost over $1 billion.
Possibly in response to his second-most-popular user’s concerns, Instagram head and former Facebook exec Adam Mosseri shared a PSA on July 26 addressing the app’s updates for a “better experience.” About halfway through the two-minute video talking about the TikTokification of Instagram, Mosseri claimed the updates are still being tested to justify why feeds are either out of order and/or showing “recommended” content instead of peoples’ actual followings, impacting engagement. “Now, if you’re seeing things in your Feed that are recommendations that you’re not interested in, that means that we’re doing a bad job ranking,” he explained. “And we need to improve.” He added that Instagram thinks the recommendations feature “is one of the most effective and important ways to help creators reach more people.”
“We want to do our best by creators, particularly small creators, and we see recommendations as one of the best ways to help them reach a new audience and grow their following,” Mosseri added. Sure, Jan. He ended his video with a peace sign and a reminder that the app’s evolution is just as important as seeing a photo dump of your best friend’s vacation. Well, don’t be surprised if you hear from Pete Davidson’s girlfriend-slash-lawyer!