If you’ve ever wondered why Instagram’s “Explore” tab shows the pictures it shows, you’re not alone. We have no idea why Instagram thinks anyone would want to see random pictures of random Instagramers that happened to receive a lot of likes. Which would mostly be duckface selfies, lunch photos, and people showing off. But now it seems that Instagram has realized the pointlessness of presenting its users with a wave of pictures they hardly care about, and have decided to make the “Explore” tab a better experience.
So instead of showing you totally random pictures, the “Explore” tab will now display the “liked” pictures by Instagramers you’re following. This isn’t exactly a major change, as you can already see said “liked” pictures now. But, at least, it seems Instagram is trying to give the “Explore” tab a bit more depth and meaning – besides the obvious hashtag search function that it contains.
On the downside, for those who use Instagram as a platform to gain popularity by amassing “likes” and then making it to the “Explore” tab – thereby attracting even more potential followers – life has just become a tiny bit harder. Since the “Explore” tab will no longer show the same feed of random images to every Instagram user, but rather a personalized view tailored to the user, it won’t be as easy anymore to get popular just by making it there. To do so, you now actually have to create worthwhile content.
(Via The Verge)