UPDATE: A spokesperson from Instagram has reached out to tech site Co.Design and has said the following:
No, Instagram is not testing chronological feed.
This meme kicked up somewhere and we’ve been trying to set the record straight.
Instagram‘s controversial choice to switch from its chronological feed to the current algorithm-informed feed has been a hot topic since it was enacted in 2016. Recently, some suspicious activity has suggested that the app may soon switch back to the former arrangement.
User @jackharding posted to his Instagram Story noting that his feed was in chronological order, stating, “Instagram back to chronological order. I wonder if this is good or bad news.” Harding later noted that he was an Instagram employee beta testing the chronological feed, with several other users making similar claims.
Naturally, Instagram has yet to release a statement confirming or denying the eventual reinstitution of the chronological feeds, and beta tests are not a guarantee of features to come. Stay tuned for more information as the news develops.
The company recently disabled its burgeoning GIPHY partnership following the discovery of a racist GIF.