Instagram to roll back its recent changes amid strong criticism

SAN FRANCISCO: After experiencing strong criticism, Meta-owned Instagram has decided to roll back some recent changes to the product, including a full-screen home feed and temporarily reduce recommended posts.

According to TechCrunch, the photo-sharing platform's head Adam Mosseri revealed the news in an interview with Platformer and said Instagram will phase out a test that turned users' home feeds into a TikTok-like full-screen experience that prioritised video in the coming weeks.

The report also mentioned that it will temporarily reduce the number of recommended posts users see as it plans to improve and rework its algorithms.

"I am glad we took a risk -- if we are not failing every once in a while, we are not thinking big enough or bold enough," Mosseri was quoted as saying in the interview.

"But we definitely need to take a big step back and regroup. When we have learned a lot, then we come back with some sort of new idea or iteration. So we are going to work through that," he added.

Mosseri noted that users' concerns about the changes were reflected in Instagram's own internal data, which is why the company plans to take a step back and figure out how to move forward.

The change comes as users have expressed frustration over the app's gradual transition from being a place where users could post and see photos of their friends and family, and more towards chasing TikTok.

Recently, Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner criticised Instagram for trying to be like TikTok.

Later, the Meta-owned platform's head shared a video explaining the recent changes.

Mosseri had said the app will continue to support photos, but believed it will become more video-focused over time. He added that if users see a new, full-screen version of their feed, it is just a test.