Instagram is apparently testing a new feature, and users are already outraged.
Some apps specialize in a single type of media, and their design and layout reflect this.
For X, it’s microblogging, TikTok is short form videos, YouTube is lengthier films, and Facebook is used to generate hundreds of AI photos.
Instagram, on the other hand, offers a little of everything, as well as a rising number of advertisements to thrust in the faces of users as they browse.
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You could be forgiven for thinking that many social media platforms, not just Instagram, are increasingly more advertisements than content, especially when it comes to sponsored posts, which bring in advertising by stealth.
However, one person has found a new feature on the network that has users threatening to leave.
And certainly, this is about how advertising is presented on the platforms.
So, how does this work?
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Anyone who has used YouTube is familiar with the annoying ad break at the beginning of each video.
After five seconds, one might be skippable, but then a double ad appears, one of which is not skippable.
While Instagram’s format does not allow for this in the same manner that YouTube does, the new function apparently adapts it to Instagram’s paradigm.
It’s a ‘unskippable’ advertisement, but in a different format.
Rather of being at the beginning of a video, the unskippable section is part of the scroll.
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Essentially, when you click one of these ads, you will be unable to go further until a particular period of time has passed.
Similar to YouTube, you will be ‘forced’ to watch the commercial until it ends, unless you put down your phone or intentionally mute it and look away out of spite.
Then you can continue your gloom scrolling uninterrupted for a while.
Needless to say, the alleged new feature has gone down like foie gras at an animal rights protest.
People flocked to social media to express their feelings.
One commenter noted that it was reflective of a larger deteriorating trend, saying, “Social media apps fighting how to make the worst app possible challenge.”
Someone else chuckled: “Instagram and YouTube are basically ads with some content.”
A third added, “That’s when I uninstalled the app,” while another said, “We need to stop using Instagram now.”
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