pexels/pxhereEarlier today Instagram updated their app so it started scrolling sideways instead of down, which I’m told was ‘like literally’ the worst thing to happen to the platform.
Hundreds if not thousands (I don’t know, I’ve not done a survey) took to Instagram’s rival, Twitter, to complain about the most recent update.
Most users bemoaned the update, describing it as dreadful and demanding Insta change things back or else they’d take their filtered pictures of avocados somewhere else.
Check out their complaints here:
thanks, I hate it @instagram
— madilyn (@madilynndee) December 27, 2018
Me when I saw that Instagram update pic.twitter.com/irTulldFdh
— Doug The Pug (@itsdougthepug) December 27, 2018
THE NEW INSTAGRAM UPDATE IS ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE! @INSTAGRAM WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, OH MY GOSH! By far the worst update in Instagram history! #instagram #instagramupdate #insta pic.twitter.com/KMuFDXRkQv
— Elise Michelle (@elisemichellex) December 27, 2018
Instagram all I have to say is go fuck yourself
— mik💛🌻🌞 (@mikayladutton_) December 27, 2018
#InstagramUpdate
*New Instagram updates*everyone who has done the new update pic.twitter.com/kD7BhAUemN
— ParkTheBus (@MonsterAmongGoD) December 27, 2018
Did anyone else’s Instagram make the worst possible system update? I hate it. Change back now.
— hali (@HaliStrub) December 27, 2018
Thank you, Next@instagram #InstagramUpdate pic.twitter.com/dej5GYwLWg
— Keyan (@KuritaKian) December 27, 2018
Soon ‘#instagramupdate’ (hashtags are how Millennials communicate with each other) was trending on Twitter and people began to complain that the update made it harder to move past advertisements they didn’t care about.
Others noted the new update has an algorithm which prioritises ‘popular posts’ over creative posts. They believe this will make creatives more difficult to find on Insta and demonstrates that the company prioritises ‘celebrity posts’ over other content.
A quick EARLY observation from this #Instagram change: this will kill creatives.
The algorithm will push “popular” posts to the first page, forcing you to endlessly swipe to find your creative friends
This will hit photographers, artists, dancers,and other creatives the hardest
— Benjamin Wareing (@BenjaminWareing) December 27, 2018
Thankfully the good people at Insta (or ‘The Gram’ as I believe the kids call it) soon recognised their mistake, apologised, updated the app again which fixed the problem.
Adam Mosseri, the Head of Instagram, also tweeted an explanation as to why they’d rolled out such a divisive update.
He wrote:
Sorry about that, this was supposed to be a very small test but we went broader than we anticipated.
A spokesperson for Instagram told BuzzFeed News that this was a bug they managed to fix quickly. They added that everyone’s app should be back to normal and apologised for any inconvenience.
The update’s been compared to the redesign Snapchat released earlier this year.
Users managed to get one million signatures on their petition for Snapchat to change the design back and the CEO Evan Spiegel later admitted they had ‘rushed’ the design.
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More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.