Instagram’s growth is something akin to a big bang in social media. It’s expanding in all directions pushed by the unstoppable energy from the human desire to tell stories, look cute, get famous, and get paid.

With a user base rapidly approaching 1 billion, wading through the droves of posts that can find their way to your screen would cause enjoyment of the app to suffer without some method of winnowing the chaff. So, in its latest attempt to cater to your “likes”, it is incorporating a “recommended for you” section in your feed.

According to an article from TechCrunch

“The new section, “Recommended for You,” is clearly labeled so as not to be confused with your own home feed.”

If you’re wondering how Instagram knows what you want to see, it has been outlined in their help section.

Note: You can only “temporarily hide” this feature and not permanently opt out.  

Tinkering with user experience is a double-edged sword for users and companies alike; especially for companies the size of Instagram. If this is but one contributor to a serious decline in user enjoyment or if it negatively impacts the growth and profitability of users with monetary ambitions, user praise could morph into mob outrage quickly.

On the other hand, this can potentially expose users to someone or something new that they may not have encountered otherwise; which is one of the genuinely good aspects of social media. Thus far, Instagram’s previous tinkering hasn’t caused any lasting outrage or slowed its growth, but time will tell if the platform is inching dangerously close to the cliff of discontent.

Sources: The Verge, TechCrunch

Additional Reading on Instagram’s Evolution

Instagram Introduces Hashtag Following & That’s Important | Pulling A Nail From The Coffin Of Organic Reach?

Instagram Business Stats You Should See | This Matters To You & Your Business (Especially This Season)

What’s New With Instagram | Evolving Business Tools & Improved User Experience