Kiwis lamenting their Instagram feeds being full of content they don't want to see now have new options to show simple chronological feeds from the accounts important to them.
The Meta-owned company has launched new 'Favorites' and 'Following' modes, said to give users more control over their feeds.
The company first announced last year it was working on bringing chronological order feed options when head of Instagram Adam Messeri testified before the US Congress on how the app impacted children.
At the time he said work had been ongoing for months, with a plan to launch sometime in the first quarter of 2022.
Chronological feeds were the default for Instagram until 2016, when the algorithmic feed was introduced.
"We want you to be able to shape Instagram into the best possible experience and giving you ways to quickly see what you’re most interested in is an important step in that direction," Mosseri wrote on his company blog.
The standard Instagram feed is a mix of photos and videos from the people users follow, along with suggested posts and more. Over time, Mosseri said, the company is going to add more recommendations to the feed based on interests.
However, Favorites and Following would allow "new ways to catch up on recent posts from the accounts you follow," Mosseri wrote.
"Favorites shows you the latest from accounts that you choose, like your best friends and favourite creators. In addition to this view, posts from accounts in Favorites will also show up higher in your home feed.
"Following shows you posts from the people you follow. Both Favorites and Following will show you posts in chronological order, so you can quickly catch up on recent posts."
Users can access the new feeds by tapping on 'Home' on the top left corner of the app and choosing which option they want.
Users are able to add up to 50 accounts to their Favorites list and change it any time. People are not notified when they are added or removed, the company said.
When accessed for the first time, Favorites automatically suggests contacts that could be favourites, along with an easy option to add or remove to the list.
"Posts from accounts on your Favorites list will also show up higher in your home feed, as shown by a star icon," Mosseri wrote.
Mosseri also indicated that Instagram was working on other ways to improve the experience.
"We'll continue to build features like Favorites and Following to give you more choice and control over what you see, and help make the time you spend on the app feel more intentional," he said.
