Part of Instagram’s beauty was its chronological feed. I could easily see what my friends were up to right now. Hanging out at the pool? Sick. Saw a good dog? Awesome. Just hiked up a mountain? Let me see that view.
As I scrolled down my feed, everything made sense. The next photo I saw was posted before the one I was currently looking at. The chronological feed provided the necessary context to understand how each photo was related to another. Checking Instagram on my lunch break used to be a refreshing and rewarding experience, but it’s now turned into something that makes me want to rip my hair out and toss my phone at the wall. “It makes me feel like I’m being cheated from my feed,” a friend told me. Cheated indeed.
Unfortunately, when we started to surpass 250 friends, a chronological feed didn’t work. People were not scrolling through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram because they followed too many people to stay in-stream. By serving up content that they know you’ll be interested in, it keeps you engaged more so you see more ads.
When I surpass 100 RSS feeds, I tend to start skipping things and that’s why I keep it at >100. We have to do the same in our social circles. Think of it like real-ilife. How many interpersonal relationships can you actually manage? Social Networking online works the same way.