Instagram is my go-to app for waiting rooms. I don't use it every day, but when I have a few extra minutes, I enjoy to see what the individuals I follow are up to.
The issue lately is that getting to the information I truly want to view necessitates wading through a pile of paid content and suggested articles. When it comes to platform advertisements, there comes a time when a user will surely throw their hands up in the air and cry, "Enough!" This threshold varies from person to person, but for me, Instagram has not only achieved it, but has surpassed it.
What happened to my content?
Let's put this to the test. In the first 16 items on the top of my feed, I counted 14 (fourteen) instances of advertising, suggested posts, and sponsored content when I launched the Instagram app on my iPhone. Before I could see a post from someone I genuinely follow, I had to scroll past six advertisements. I'm not sure when Instagram started being so pushy with advertisements, but it wasn't like this earlier this year. A month-old Reddit thread depicts the same problem, with a seemingly endless array of adverts stacked one on top of the other.
Worse, the substance of the adverts and suggested posts that I'm seeing is profoundly offensive. Yes, I follow a handful of fitness-related and wrestling-related Instagram profiles. So, according on its algorithms, I must be into boxing and bodybuilding (which I am not). I keep seeing advertisements for boxing lessons, which I'm not interested in, and I keep seeing muscular men standing on a stage, which is also not my cup of tea. Instagram is obsessed with this sort of stuff, and there isn't much diversity. In 2022, I'm a person, which means I have the luxury of having precise, nuanced hobbies — I like bodyweight workouts but not bodybuilding. I can spend all day watching Brazilian jiu-jitsu videos, but not boxing. Maybe it's because of how I'm interacting with this stuff that Instagram's algorithms are off, but it simply doesn't appear to be able to forecast what I actually want to view.
It isn't only me that is experiencing this. A month ago, another Reddit thread headlined "Okay, we understand. Your feed is completely comprised of advertisements "Hundreds of people have expressed their dissatisfaction with Instagram's feed.
"60 percent of the postings on my newsfeed are from accounts I don't follow," says user HireLaneKiffin, "however there are accounts I do follow that post often and I never see their messages." "It's gone from all of my followers to every other follow and ad to a three to two ratio of advertising and sponsored follows from the worst people and stuff as of today," user ilivedownyourroad comments. I don't have a scientific way for determining how many advertisements are too many for the majority of users, but Instagram, in my opinion, is well over that point.
This practice has spread to Meta's other website, Facebook. You'll see some information from the pages and people you follow at the top of this platform's feed, but there will be a lot of advertisements in between, and every now and then, you'll see a suggested post from a page you don't particularly care about I'm looking at you, Nick's Strength and Power. In actuality, this bodybuilding-related page probably has little to do with it; Facebook has determined that I must be like bodybuilding, and that I will watch bodybuilding videos, so help me, almighty algorithm.
The sponsored bombardment on Facebook isn't as awful as it is on Instagram, but Instagram might be a forewarning. You might have to go through the gymnastics of switching to chronological post order every time you open the app in a few months (to do that, tap "Menu," then "See more," then "Most recent" on the iPhone).
Is it possible for you to refrain?
There are ways to reduce the amount of adverts on Instagram, but the platform is pretty clever about it. When you first launch the app, a little white arrow shows next to the Instagram logo at the top, allowing you to only see material from the accounts you've marked as favorites. The small white arrow, on the other hand, comes only after you've scrolled past the first post - presumably to compel you to see at least one ad before getting to the material you're looking for. You also have to do it every time you open the app, and you have to painstakingly add all of the stuff you want to follow to your favorites, which is a nuisance.
You can also acquire an alternative Instagram version for Android that removes all adverts, however unauthorized applications are not only likely to be against Instagram's terms of service, but they can also be a method for malware to infect your device.
The simple conclusion is that forcing content you don't want tarnishes the Instagram experience for the vast majority of users. Even marketers will start to grumble when engagement statistics from their jaded and resigned audience start to plummet. I've asked Instagram if they believe sponsored material has gone too far, and I'll update this piece if I hear back.