Instagram’s creepiest feature, the Following tab in the Activity feed, is going away this week and it won’t be missed. Or will it?
No more snooping around on Instagram. The app is removing the Following tab (found within your Activity feed), the one feature that allowed you to see what posts your friends are liking and commenting on – AND who they started following.
Instagram started to remove the tab for some users in August, but has now confirmed that the feature will be completely phased out this week, according to BuzzFeed News. After the update, the heart icon will continue to display your activity.
The Following tab was not removed to improve privacy, or online safety, on the platform. According to Vishal Shah, head of product at Instagram, it was actually removed for the sake of simplicity, and to remove a feature that most users simply did not even know existed. As he explained,
“People didn’t always know that their activity is surfacing. So you have a case where it’s not serving the use case you built if for, but it’s also causing people to be surprised when their activity is showing up.”
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