Instagram has got rid of its “rug-pull” feature. This change affects more than 2 billion monthly active Instagram users worldwide who have experienced this issue since the app’s feed algorithm updates in recent years.
The Meta-owned social media app faced criticism from users when it automatically refreshed their feed upon opening the app, causing them to lose access to content. So, it removed the “really annoying” element. The feature had been a constant source of frustration for users since its implementation, with thousands of complaints registered across various social media platforms.
Mosseri speaks out
“We stopped doing something that we internally call rug-pull,” CEO Adam Mosseri said during a Q&A session online. “We’ve all had that moment where you pen up Instagram and you’re looking at something and all of a sudden new content comes in and it moves and it’s really annoying. We do that, or we did that, because we trying to load content and it was taking a while so we showed you something that was already downloaded in the meantime. Instagram’s internal studies showed that users spent an average of 30 seconds trying to relocate content they were viewing before the automatic refresh.
“It was generally good for engagement,” The previous feature had reportedly increased user time spent on the platform by 3-5 percent, according to internal Meta data, despite user dissatisfaction.
Mosseri noted that the new move has initially curtailed user engagement but ultimately believes that it will be a “much better experience” overall. This decision aligns with Meta’s recent push toward improving user experience across its platforms, including Facebook and WhatsApp.
“So, basically what we do now is we load new content and we will not show it until you scroll and we insert it below,” he said. “We took a little bit of an engagement hit for this but it is a much better experience for the average user so there’s no more rug-pull.”
This new approach mirrors similar changes implemented by other social media platforms like Twitter (now X) and TikTok, which have also prioritized user experience over engagement metrics.
The removal of the rug-pull feature is part of Instagram’s larger initiative to improve user satisfaction and retention. Recent studies have shown that sudden content refreshes were among the top complaints from Instagram users, particularly among content creators who often lost track of posts they were planning to engage with.
This update comes at a crucial time for Meta, as the company faces increasing competition from other social media platforms. The decision to prioritize user experience over engagement metrics represents a significant shift in strategy for the tech giant, which has historically focused on maximizing user interaction and time spent on the platform.
Move draws praise from experts
Industry experts have praised the move, noting that it could set a new standard for social media platforms in prioritizing user experience over engagement metrics. The change has been particularly well-received by digital marketing professionals and content creators, who often relied on specific posts for their work.
The technical implementation of this change required significant backend modifications to Instagram’s content loading system. The new system utilizes advanced caching mechanisms to ensure smooth content delivery without disrupting the user’s browsing experience. This update also includes improvements to the app’s memory management and data usage optimization.
The company has also announced plans to continue monitoring user feedback and making additional improvements to the platform’s user interface and content delivery systems. This commitment to user experience improvements suggests a potential shift in how social media platforms approach the balance between engagement metrics and user satisfaction.
