Instagram releases major update to feed, users trash it on Twitter and the update disappears

by on

An alert to Instagram users on Thursday morning. (Instagram screen grab)

Updated at 8:20 a.m. PT.

First, they came for your chronological feed. Now, Instagram appears to be gunning for the ability to scroll up. But in the most bizarre update and non-update ever, big changes from the social media giant were rolled out and rolled back Thursday morning.

Instagram users were up in arms after the photo- and video-sharing platform dropped another seemingly unwanted and unannounced update. Instead of scrolling up endlessly and seeing images from the accounts that you follow, users were encouraged to tap or swipe right or left to proceed through the feed (much like they do in Instagram Stories).

But as quickly and quietly as the update came, it disappeared and the feed reverted to its old style by 8 a.m. PT. Instagram confirmed to TechCrunch that it was a mistake. “This was caused by a bug and we quickly rolled it back,” an Instagram spokesperson told the site.

It all sounds like a problem for people with too little to be upset about, but the Facebook-owned Instagram has 1 billion active monthly users and is still the go-to app for people looking to share photographic content.

It felt strange from the start, because Instagram did not issue any sort of blog post to explain the change. A notice simply appeared when the app was launched Thursday morning advising users of the update. “Tap through posts, just like you tap through stories,” it read.

But on Twitter, angry users were tapping out responses conveying their displeasure with yet another update they didn’t ask for. The company previously eliminated the chronological feed, in which posts showed up in the order in which they were shared, and replaced it with a random feed based on an algorithm. Both updates are clearly intended to create more interaction with ads in the feed.

Twitter soon became a mix of outrage over the change and confusion that it went bye-bye so quickly. TechCrunch pointed out that the tweak could return, but given the reaction, Instagram may think twice now.

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to GeekWire's free newsletters to catch every headline

Job Listings on GeekWork

Find more jobs on GeekWork. Employers, post a job here.