Instagram Algorithm Survey: Users Split Over Proposed Changes

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Posted Mar 18, 2016

Instagram recently announced that it will be making a change to its algorithm. Instead of showing all posts in a user’s feed in reverse chronological order as it does now, the Facebook owned photo sharing app plans to sort post based on relevance. So the more you interact with a user’s posts by liking or commenting, the more they are going to show up in your feed. There’s been some controversy over this latest announcement. So what do Instagram users think?

instagram algorithm

Instagram Use

In Ask Your Target Market’s latest survey, 14% of Instagram users said that they check their Instagram feed at least five times per day. 18% check it two to four times per day. 20% said they check it about once a day. 16% do so a few times per week. 28% of Instagram users said that they rarely log onto the platform. And 5% never do. In addition, 8% said they post to Instagram multiple times per day. 11% usually post about once a day. 14% do so a few times per week. 11% post about once a week. 10% only post a few times per month. 30% said they rarely ever post to Instagram. And 18% never do.

Instagram Algorithm

Overall, 36% of Instagram users said they have a positive opinion of the platform’s current feed that displays posts in reverse chronological order. 27% dislike it. And 38% are neutral or have no opinion. When it comes to changing the algorithm, it seems that opinions get more negative, but only slightly. 33% said they dislike the idea of Instagram switching over to a feed based on relevance. 31% like the idea. And 37% are neutral or undecided.

Instagram Changes

Either way, it seems like the change is likely to keep the majority of Instagram users at least somewhat satisfied. Just 14% of current users said they would consider leaving Instagram because of the algorithm change. 48% said they are likely to stay regardless of the change. And 38% are neutral or undecided. You can view the complete survey results in the widget below and be sure to click “Open Full Report” to take advantage of all the chart and filter options.Photo Credit: newsgathering. from FlickrWhat do you want to know? If you need some consumer insights on a particular topic, let us know in the comments below and we’ll consider it for an upcoming survey post.

Results were collected on March 17 via AYTM’s online survey panel.

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