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Instagram bids goodbye to its Following tab

Mobile

CIO Bulletin
2019-10-09

Instagram is making a lot of changes these days. Now, it has gotten rid of its Following tab which was introduced in the mobile app in 2011 to help users find new people to follow.

The Following tab is an activity feed that reveals what posts your friends like, comment or follow. The company announced that it will be removing the tab permanently from this week.

And once this rolls out, the heart icon, which takes the users to the “Following” and “You” tab, will only feature users’ activity feed. But this decision by Instagram may not shock many as many still do not know about this feed. The company feels that it is unnecessary to hold on to a feature that is not recognized by the majority of its users.

“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 it for, but it’s also causing people to be surprised when their activity is showing up,” said Vishal Shah, Head of Product at Instagram.

Many users may be disappointed as now they cannot stalk their friends. But many will be relieved with their activity not being exposed anymore.