What would happen if Instagram stopped deciding the order of posts? According to Adam Mosseri, the result would not be a romantic return to photos from friends. Users would be overwhelmed by content from those who post most frequently, particularly brands.
The head of Instagram has publicly defended algorithmic ranking as Australia debates users' right to choose an unrecommended feed. Mosseri acknowledges that the algorithm may appear as a black box, but argues that personalization produces a better experience.
Chronological is not neutral
Sorting by time seems like an objective rule, but it rewards one specific trait: frequency. An account that posts twenty times can take up more space than a friend who posts once. Ranking attempts to correct this asymmetry by predicting what interests the user.
The problem is that this correction gives the platform enormous power. Instagram decides which signals to measure and which behaviour to optimize.
The algorithm has become an editor
A traditional newsroom selects the front page. Instagram produces billions of personal front pages every day. Mosseri contends that these are more useful than a chronological list; regulators demand that users be able to opt out of them.
Both positions can be true: ranking can improve the experience while simultaneously warranting greater oversight. The question is no longer whether algorithms exist, but how much sovereignty we want to grant them over our attention.
