Instagram

Instagram says it's working on new ways for users to sort their feeds — including finally bringing back the ability to view it chronologically."We’ve been experimenting with Favorites, a way for you to decide whose posts you want to see higher up, and we’re working on another option to see posts from people you follow in chronological order," the official Instagram Comms Twitter account posted on Wednesday. Tweet may have been deleted While the image-sharing platform had originally displayed all posts in chronological order, a 2016 update altered Instagram to prioritise posts according to an algorithm. The change was widely reviled, with many users attempting to find workarounds.Fortunately, it looks like half a decade of mildly discontented grumbling has finally taught Instagram that the majority of users don't much care for their algorithm. The company is still keeping the algorithm around, just in case some people have grown to like it or just really hate change. However it will no longer be mandatory, with Instagram aiming to offer different options on how to sort your timeline, including prioritising more recent posts or posts from your favourite accounts."We want to be clear that we’re creating new options — providing people with…

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri told a Senate subcommittee investigating the harmful effects of the photo sharing app on teenagers that "keeping young people safe online is not just about one company" and called for industry-wide solutions. "With teens using multiple platforms, it is critical that we address youth online safety as an industry challenge and develop industry-wide solutions and standards," Mosseri told lawmakers.He called for age verification tools at the phone level and said the social media platforms need an industry body to determine how to verify the age of minors, how to design specific experiences, and what kind of parental controls are needed. The hearing before the Senate subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security comes after damaging revelations first reported by The Wall Street Journal in September indicated top executives at Instagram were warned by researchers about the potential harmful impacts of the platform. Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri testifies during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing titled Protecting Kids Online: Instagram and Reforms for Young Users on Capitol Hill, December 8, 2021 in Washington, DC.  Drew Angerer / Getty Images Internal documents from Instagram's parent company Meta, formerly known as Facebook, showed researchers…

Image: Meta Instagram has announced it will be launching a new feature designed to nudge people who have been scrolling on its platform for a certain amount of time to take a break as part of what the company is calling its "ongoing youth safety work".The Take A Break feature, which has been in testing since November, will be initially available in the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, with plans to roll it out globally in the coming months.Users will be able to turn on the feature and select to be alerted to take a break after using the platform for 10 minutes, 20 minutes, or 30 minutes, before being provided tips on how to reset. According to Instagram head Adam Mosseri, the Take a Break reminders have been built using the platform's existing time management tools, like Daily Limit, which lets people know when they've reached the total amount of time they want to spend on Instagram each day, and offers the ability to mute Instagram notifications after reaching the set threshold.  He explained that the tool is part of a broader effort by its parent company, Meta, to protect teens. "Every day I see the…

Instagram’s algorithms recommend drug dealers’ accounts to minor users, according to a new report from the Tech Transparency Project. The platform also suggests drug-related hashtags, the report found. In the report, published Tuesday, the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) created seven fake accounts for teen users aged 13, 14, 15, and 17. Instagram did not stop those accounts from searching for drug-related content. In one case, the platform auto-filled results when a user started typing “buyxanax” into the search bar. One suggested account was a Xanax dealer. After following the account of a Xanax dealer, a fake minor user got a direct message “with a menu of products, prices, and shipping options,” the report found. A fake minor account that followed an Instagram dealer got suggestions to follow an account selling Adderall. “I would say Instagram is one of the worst places for exposure to this kind of content,” Tim Mackey, a professor at the University of California, San Diego and founder of S-3, a company that tracks illegal drug sales online, told NBC News. Stephanie Otway, a spokesperson for Instagram parent company Meta, said in a statement to NBC News that the platform prohibits drug sales. “We’ll continue to improve…

Members of K-pop boyband BTS have officially joined Instagram with individual accounts. READ MORE: BTS live in LA: a euphoric return to live performance for the K-pop juggernauts On December 6, all members of the septet – comprising RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, V, Jimin and Jungkook – shared their first posts on their respective new Instagram accounts. In years past, the group’s members had shared personal images through the @BTS_twt Twitter account or the community app Weverse. Since the accounts were launched, each member of the group has amassed over 16million followers. V currently has the most, with over 18million followers, at time of writing. Notably, commenting access has been limited on the all of the members’ posts. The launch of their Instagram accounts also comes hot on the heels of their hiatus announcement. According to their label Big Hit Music, the septet will go on an “extended period of rest” for the first time since 2019. “The period of rest will produce the members of BTS… a chance to get re-inspired and recharge with creative energy,” Big Hit said in its statement. “It will also be the first time for them since their debut [in 2013 where they will…

Manchester United supporters have ambushed a social media post from the Premier League giants to heap praise on Portuguese right-back Diogo Dalot. Signed by former manager Jose Mourinho from Porto for around £20million, the defender has struggled to hold down a regular place in the United line-up. However, after coming into the team against Arsenal, the 22-year-old was retained against Crystal Palace and produced another impressive display. That came as Aaron Wan-Bissaka returned from a minor injury to take place on the United bench. Dalot spent last season on loan at rejuvenated Italian giants AC Milan and was allowed to twice face United in the Europa League, though twice failed to win. Back at Old Trafford this campaign, is the five-cap Portugal star ready to leapfrog Wan-Bissaka? Judging by reaction from supporters to his part in Fred's stunning winner against Palace, there is a genuine case. Here are a selection of comments posted by United fans on popular social media platform Instagram; @calebt2866 said: "Can we give credit to Dalot?" @jsvsqzl posted: "Dalot was pretty good at Milan. He just needed a chance to start. AWB is good defensively - they could be rotated here and there, but Dalot should…

Dani Dyer and West Ham United footballer Jarrod Bowen put the ultimate seal on their relationship by taking to Instagram in a cosied-up photo on Saturday.   The beaming pair looked smitten as they enjoyed what was clearly a romantic evening for two this weekend. They were previously snapped getting coffee together, but this is the first time they’ve both mentioned the romance. Sipping from a glass of champagne, 25-year-old Dani captioned the photo: ‘Saturday night.’ Jarrod, 24, then re-shared the post to his own Instagram Stories, confirming that they were indeed a couple.  It’s the first proper romance for Dani who has had a rough time since splitting with ex-boyfriend Sammy Kimmence, with who she shares son Santiago with, born in January this year. ‘Everything is so early days. Jarrod is a lovely guy and we’re enjoying getting to know each other,’ the Love Island winner told The Sun recently. ‘But Santi will always be my main priority, he will always come first. I am concentrating on being a mum and, beyond that, whatever happens, happens,’ she continued, before adding that Jarrod had already gotten the seal of approval from dad. ‘My dad thinks Jarrod’s a lovely guy,’ she added.…

Gen Z grew up on social media — we've been building our list of friends and followers since we were young. So, for college students who want to try their hand at launching a business, they have a ready-made customer base and marketing platform at their fingertips.Social media platforms recognize that potential and have been rolling out commerce tools. Pinterest and Facebook were among the earliest to launch shopping/marketplace features and Instagram followed a few years later, giving small businesses the opportunity to reach millions — and in some cases billions — of users. This has been a game-changer for start-ups.In August, TikTok announced a partnership with Shopify, where Shopify merchants who have a TikTok for Business account are able to add a shopping tab to their profiles. Reality star Kylie Jenner was among the first users to try the new TikTok shopping feature, using it to market her Kylie Cosmetics beauty products to her 37 million followers.Kylie Jenner attends the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 7, 2018 in New York City.Dia Dipasupil | WireImage | Getty Images"I built my business on social media; it's where my…

Monica Schipper/Getty Images Anybody remember a children's song called "Mr. Sun"? It goes (via YouTube), "Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, won't you please shine down on me?" Based on Ree Drummond's latest Instagram post, it seems Fred and Rusty – the Drummonds' basset pups – recently woke up singing that tune. And it looks like the sun delivered, in spades, as the bassets were treated to the warm glow of the rising sun, and apparently, even a celestial smile. The friendly bassets are two of the seven pooches that call Drummond Ranch home. The Pioneer Woman has had a basset hound around since she was a small child, per The Pioneer Woman blog. She gushes about the goofy guys on social media and says that she has loved the droopy-eyed doggies all her life. These adorable hounds, the newest additions to the Drummond Clan, apparently feel that they are a part of the family, so much so that, having been left at home during Alex Drummond's recent wedding ceremony, they just weren't having that. Instead, they ventured the 1.8 miles to the reception site on the sprawling ranch and showed up uninvited at the celebration (via Instagram). Just a couple…

s_bukley/Shutterstock When Valerie Bertinelli isn't whipping up her delicious and comforting recipes, the celebrity chef apparently loves to post bloopers from her time on TV Land's "Hot in Cleveland." For the uninitiated, the cookbook author first appeared on "Hot in Cleveland" in 2010 (via IMDb). The show found success and brought viewers 6 seasons of laughs until it concluded in 2015. Bertinelli played the 40-something character Melanie Moretti, who winds up living in Cleveland with two of her peers as they reject the Hollywood trope of women over a certain being seen as no longer "hot."  Per Today, the host of "Valerie's Home Cooking" took to Instagram earlier this year to celebrate her co-star, beloved Hollywood icon Betty White's 99th birthday by sharing funny outtakes from their days of filming the sitcom together. The video lasts a little over 9-minutes, and they are quite the dynamic duo. Well, Bertinelli is back at it. The recent Instagram post, which features a blooper involving Bertinelli's character in a morgue, has garnered more than 240,000 views and has followers in stitches. This producer is a bit of a practical joker Valerie Bertinelli's Instagram post shows her "Hot in Cleveland" character Melanie Moretti having a heated exchange over the phone. The…