Was it a bug? Was it a small test that went horribly wrong? A sign of things to come?
Either way, there were a lot of angry tweets from Instagram users Thursday and not many from people who felt OK with the change when the social network rolled out an update.
Instead of continuously scrolling through photos vertically, as one would on most web pages, a number of Instagram users had to tap or swipe photos horizontally, one at at time, “as one might when looking at Tinder profiles,” wrote Shannon Palus for Slate.
The sideways thing only lasted a few minutes after going live, and the vertical feed was quickly restored for most users, the Verge reported.
People hated it, accusing Instagram on Twitter of lying, trying to exploit users, not listening to customers, and developing in a vacuum, among other complaints.
This shows the new Instagram feed scrolling experience. pic.twitter.com/tShegRfMFJ
— NBC News Tech (@NBCNewsTech) December 27, 2018
Instagram previously tested the feature in October in the Explore section of the app, then appeared to roll it out more widely to users’ main feeds on Thursday in “a huge sideways shift from the vertically scrolling user experience that’s been the norm since the app launched.”
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Instagram head Adam Mosseri said on Twitter that the horizontal feed was meant to be “a small test” that “went broader than we anticipated.” A Facebook spokesperson contradicted that in a statement to The Verge: “Due to a bug, some users saw a change to the way their feed appears today. We quickly fixed the issue and feed is back to normal. We apologize for any confusion.”
Many users found this was a perfect opportunity to engage with Instagram, begging for a return to “chronological feed!!!!! Stop ignoring us!!!!!” (The way that Instagram orders photos hasn’t been chronological since 2016.)
Due to a bug, some users saw a change to the way their feed appears today. We quickly fixed the issue and feed is back to normal. We apologize for any confusion.
— Instagram (@instagram) December 27, 2018
Dude this sideways scroll is very transparent move to force us to look at ads longer/without scrolling past them. That sucks, lease don't!
— Scott Heins (@scottheins) December 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/mosseri/status/1078321786586951680
Please don't roll this out to all. It looks nauseating. pic.twitter.com/tLRag346Vd
— Brad Smith (@thebradsmith) December 27, 2018
"bug" pic.twitter.com/6nu8YxyvEd
— Stuart Call (@stuartcall) December 27, 2018
A bug omg pic.twitter.com/t6iqkukx7Y
— Argi (@arigbangtan) December 27, 2018
I think by the sheer number of memes and backlash, this should be scrapped for now. I've never seen so many people get so negative so quickly
— Maddigan (@tylermaddigan) December 27, 2018
Why did an interface-tweak to an app cause such a dramatic response?
“After all, Instagram Stories, the ephemeral version of the Instagram feed from which posts disappear after 24 hours, relies on a similar horizontal flick-through to navigate,” wrote Palus for Slate. “Despite departing from the traditional way we navigate both Instagram and the larger web, Stories became widely used after their rollout in 2016. One of my colleagues said that the new tap-through feature disrupts the smooth experience she’s become used to in the main feed: ‘Instead of being able to easily scroll back-and-forth through everything, she complained, ‘it made me look at every single picture one at a time.'”
“I contend that we’d get used to this, just as we’ve adjusted to countless other tweaks that social media apps and sites have made,” Palus wrote. “Considering how time-sucking apps like Instagram have become for me and everyone I know, I’d welcome a readjustment period: An app that is novel and therefore harder to use is an app that’s easy to use less.”
https://twitter.com/Art_Deco_Dame/status/1078402387365294080
“Due to a bug” will be my new excuse for everything.
— Sebastian Muriel (@TheSpilledJuice) December 27, 2018
What type bug? Roach eh?
— Deelo🤴🏾 (@deelo_242) December 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/Mik3Ferguson/status/1078322643458154497
— Petty Wap . (@Miss_Pierre) December 28, 2018
Don’t do this again.
— Truth isn’t truth. (@AlumniUSC) December 27, 2018
Even if Thursday’s update was an accident, Instagram is taking the horizontal feed seriously, Chaim Gartenberg wrote for The Verge. “It may not be long before it rolls out to devices for good.”
Instagram has been owned by Facebook since 2012, when the photo-sharing app had 30 million users. Facebook bought the company for $1 billion in cash and stock. As of June 20, 2018, Instagram has 1 billion users. Profiles and anything posted to the app are collected by Instagram, according to its privacy policy, and that information is shared with business partners and “people who help us provide Instagram to you,” Newsweek reported.
