I’m addicted to Instagram and as a community manager for mobile games, I often think about features in my favourite apps. I want to share actionable feedback with Facebook’s team without turning this into a rant.
Here are 3 changes I’d like to see in Instagram:
Offer a “See First” feature like Facebook
On Facebook, you’re allowed to prioritize about 30 accounts and I’m maxed out! Some of the spots are taken by the Kardashians, competitors and close friends, which they’d probably find creepy. I look at a lot of random posts and I want to see updates from people I actually know. In Facebook settings, this might be called See First or more recently Favourites.
With Instagram Stories, I pay close attention to whose circle appears in the beginning. At first, I thought it was funny when the odd friend was placed ahead of Kim Kardashian. It was so hilarious that I DM’d a screenshot to them.
Occasionally Kim gets buried behind other accounts and I wish there was a setting to guarantee that she comes first!
A See First feature on Instagram would let you select accounts you want to show up first on the feed and/or Stories. I could pick a few friends and favourite accounts to prioritize and then everyone else would come next according to the algorithm. Controlling the algorithm like this would be less intrusive than signing up for notifications. Who wants to do that? This would let you customize your feed and you could pick anyone including your hot celebrity crush – it’s up to you!
Move the Mute button
Please move the mute button out of the “Following” dropdown menu and put it somewhere else on the profile. Instagram is so important for relationships now and I don’t want to unfollow someone by accident.
Muting lets you curate your feed while keeping your relationship intact. You’ve got to admit that you know some people whose content you don’t like!
Twitter effectively separates the mute button from the following button on desktop and mobile, so you’re unlikely to make a mistake there. Hopefully Instagram can do something like Twitter.
Link in IG Stories for Accounts Under 10K
As someone who just reached 500 Instagram followers, my last request for Instagram won’t come as a surprise. I often write blog posts that are unrelated to the posts on my Instagram grid and I want a better way to promote blog posts on Instagram that’s comparable to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. I wish I could post Instagram Stories with a link for followers to swipe up and read my latest long-form post without waiting until I meet the current requirement for 10,000 followers. Instagram is clearly becoming a news source and I’d like to participate in that, so I could share links to my own articles or another publication. In Eva Chen‘s Twitter Q&A, she said it’s in the works! Best news ever.
The pandemic is making us embrace the old days of social media and go back to the basics of sharing and connecting. These changes to Instagram’s design could make a big difference. Follow @hotonthestreet on Instagram to see what’s new in my life and stay tuned for my next vlog!