Instagram is rolling out 'Recommended' posts

Instagram is rolling out 'Recommended' posts

Instagram is rolling out recommended posts to users which suggest content you might be interested in based on other accounts you follow.

The feature, first spotted in testing last month, has now gone live and is the first time the Facebook-owned company has offered recommended content in the home feed.

The new section 'Recommended for You' contains three to five suggested posts and is rolling out on Android and iOS, reports suggest.

This means users scrolling through the home page will no longer only see posts from accounts they already follow, writes Tech Crunch.

Previously recommended content was in the Explore section and would not be pushed onto the home feed. 

'When scrolling through Feed, you may see posts that are Recommended for You', the company said in a blog post.

'These posts are suggested based on posts liked by accounts you follow'.

The section appears after users have viewed all their posts in the feed, a spokesperson said.

Users can choose to temporarily hide these posts by tapping the three horizontal lines above the post on iPhone and the three vertical lines on Android.  

User 'itskamm', who is based in Cleveland, tweeted '@instagram stop with all the extra stuff! especially please take away these recommended people I follow in my feed! if i wanted to follow them i would'.

Another Twitter user was also unimpressed by the new update.

Twitter user 'gamor11', who is based in Melbourne, tweeted 'Why does @instagram insist on showing me photos of “recommended” people on my feed? I don’t care. I wanna see pictures from people I actually follow, and chronologically at that!!' 

Earlier this month the company introduced hashtags which allows users to follow interests, not just accounts.

That means you can stay up to date with #onthetable, #slime and #floralnails, without the need to go hunting for them through the app's search bar or explorer tab. 

Instagram has released the new feature in an effort to make posts on the site easier to discover.

The app, based in Menlo Park, is used by millions of people each day to share photos and videos, as well as to tag them with relevant subject hashtags. 

If you set your account to private, the hashtags you follow will only be visible to your followers.

'Today we're introducing the ability to follow hashtags, giving you new ways to discover photos, videos and people on Instagram,' Instagram said in a press release earlier this month.

'Now it's even easier to stay connected with the interests, hobbies, passions and communities you care about.'

These new features are just two of a number to be introduced by Instagram in recent months. 

Instagram released a new update in November that allows users to edit pictures that their friends send them through direct messaging.

Instagram is also working on several other new features, and reportedly inviting people to test the beta version of its Android and iOS apps.

In September, Instagram also appeared to be testing a feature that allows users to save their Stories, instead of losing them after 24 hours.

And earlier in the year, Instagram reportedly tested a favourite-friends feature which allows you to share content with a select group of friends.