You may have heard that Instagram have announced changes to its algorithm which are to be implemented soon, although they have not yet announced a date.

The changes will see users timelines change from chronological order to show you images it thinks you will like, with Instagram stating your feed will be ‘based on the likelihood you’ll be interested in the content, your relationship with the person posting and the timeliness of the post’. This will be moving more towards a Facebook style of feed. Maybe this is not entirely a surprise considering that Instagram is owned by Facebook.

Last weekend thousands of users took to Instagram in a panic asking followers to turn on notifications if they want them to continue seeing their feeds. For many small businesses who rely on Instagram for sales, such as Etsy sellers and local cafes & restaurants, you can see why the thought of all their followers suddenly not seeing their content and products anymore is a worrying one.

However the world has since then calmed down with Instagram tweeting:

Many have commented that turning on notifications may actually cause some followers to un-follow anyway – especially if your posts are close together or late at night when they may not want to be disturbed. Users get so many notifications across social networks anyway, do we really need continuous notifications of all our favourite brands posts ALL of the time?!

Instagram also notably announced that currently 70% of users feeds go un-seen, so perhaps that the new changes will be a good thing – for both user and businesses.

With no date as yet announced for these #instagramchanges we and the 300 million Instagram users just all have to wait and see what social revolution the changes bring!