Instagram is testing a new way to view your timeline which replaces scrolling up or down using your thumb with tap-to-advance. This is identical to Instagram Stories.
According to Techcrunch, Instagram is planning to eliminate thumb-scrolling fatigue, by letting you tap on posts to see the next one one your feed. How does it work? Much like Instagram Stories, users will tap to proceed to the next post that would regularly appear on their timeline.
The upside of such approach is of course the size of media. When scrolling up and down, sometimes users need to “center” the visual in order to have optimal viewing experience. By tapping, videos and images will appear full screen at once, without having to fiddle. This way to navigate the timeline is also known as tap-to-advance.
By eliminating thumb swipe fatigue and ensuring the full post always appears on screen, testing tap-to-advance in Explore could get us spending more time on Instagram https://t.co/l2yIHAHUkC pic.twitter.com/Mr0khQQATH
— Josh Constine (@JoshConstine) October 11, 2018
Moreover, such a format is perfect for uninterrupted of content consumption. Some users argue that it’s the perfect way to ‘switch off’ one’s brain and spend hours watching videos or images. This can be somewhat contrarian to the fact that both Facebook and Instagram are now tracking your time online, but Facebook Inc. has been full of contradictions lately anyway.
According to a spokesperson, Instagram is “always testing ways to improve the experience on Instagram and bring you closer to the people and things you love.” While this cute little feature is currently being tested to selected few thousands of users, there are no active plans to roll it out any time soon.
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