The “Following” tab in Instagram that displays the activities of your friends or the people you are following is finally gone for good in the latest update. This feature will be removed entirely from the account of every Instagram user this week. The update is rolling out along with Instagram dark mode on Android 10 and iOS 13. Once the feature is removed, you can only view your activity rather than that of your friends.
The Head of Product at Instagram, Vishal Shah:
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. Simplicity was the driving factor.
The “Following” tab was first introduced by Instagram in 2011, which allowed people to keep a check on the activities of their friends and family. Due to this tab, people got to know much about the interests and choices of their friends and family. It also helped people to discover new accounts that they can follow if it matches their enthusiasm.
An Instagram spokesperson said:
We’re always working to make Instagram the best space to connect with the people and things you love.
This change is better in a lot of ways. It will limit the stalking and will also help people in keeping things private. Previous versions didn’t have an option to turn this feature off. This update will help the users to protect their privacy and interests.
