Device Links
Instagram has become one of the most popular social media platforms. It is a great way to keep in touch with friends and family and share photos and experiences. One of the challenges of using Instagram is keeping up with all the posts.
There are so many posts that it can be difficult to track them all. Luckily, there is a way to order your Instagram feed by date. This makes it easy to find the posts you are looking for and keeps your timeline organized.
This article will show you how to order your Instagram feed by date.
Order Instagram Feed by Date
In 2016, Instagram made a major change to its platform: it switched from a chronological feed to an algorithmic one. This means that, instead of seeing the most recent posts from the people you follow first, you now see posts that Instagram believes are the most relevant to you.
The algorithm considers factors like the timeliness of the posts, your relationship with the person who posted them, and whether you’ve engaged with that person’s posts in the past. While this change proved controversial, it’s easy to see why Instagram would prefer an algorithmic feed.
First of all, it keeps users coming back to the platform more often. Secondly, it gives businesses a better chance of getting their ads seen by potential customers. And finally, it allows Instagram to collect more data about its users, which is valuable for targeted marketing campaigns.
That said, a chronological feed poses several challenges to users. First, if you follow many people, it can be difficult to keep up with the content in real-time. If you’re only able to check your feed a few times a day, you’re likely to miss a lot of what’s being posted.
An algorithmic feed also means you may not see everything posted since the last time you checked. This is especially true when you’re following a particular event or conversation. Seeing posts in a seemingly disorganized manner can create confusion and make it harder to keep up with the latest developments.
But there’s good news! After years of pressure, Instagram has finally agreed to bring back a chronological feed, allowing you to order the feed by date. Strictly speaking, it’s still not possible to have some kind of a physical mark separating events from different days. But with a chronological feed, you’ll be able to view posts in the order they were posted.
Let’s see how to shift to a chronological feed depending on the type of device you’re using.
Order Instagram Feed by Date on an iPhone
If you’re an iPhone user keen to explore all that Instagram offers and keep up with the latest news and trends, shifting to a chronological feed would be the logical step.
Here’s how to go about it:
- Open the Instagram app on your phone.
- Tap the Instagram logo in the top left corner of your screen. This will open the feed management section.
- Select “Following” from the list.
This will immediately shift your Instagram feed from the algorithm version to the chronological version, allowing you to see posts only from the accounts you follow. In addition, posts will be ordered by date, starting with the most recent to the oldest.
Sometimes even with a chronological feed, you may not be able to see all the posts made on a particular date because of the sheer number of accounts you follow. But worry not because you can narrow down the feed to only include posts from selected accounts and still order things by date.
Here’s how:
- Open the app and tap the Instagram logo in the top left corner.
- Select “Favorites” from the list.
- Select the accounts you want to add as your favorites and then tap “Confirm Favorites.”
Order Instagram Feed by Date on an Android Device
If your device is running on Android, here’s what to do to order your feed by date:
- Open the Instagram app.
- Tap the Instagram logo at the top of your screen to open the feed management section.
- Select “Following” from the list.
Once you do this, your feed will be populated with posts from the accounts you follow in a chronological format.
There’s a Catch
While the ability to order your Instagram feed by date or set your favorite accounts is a welcome addition to Instagram, there’s a catch.
Any changes you make in this regard are temporary, and your account reverts to an algorithm feed as soon as you end the session and close the app. You can’t set either of these new feeds as your default feed. So, whenever you open the app, you’ll see an algorithm feed populated with ads and unordered posts.
You’ll need to reconfigure the app to use either the “Following” version or the “Favorites” version. This is a pretty big inconvenience, and it’s likely that many users will simply stick with the default algorithm feed rather than bother with switching back and forth. Hopefully, Instagram will eventually allow users to set their preferred feed as the default.
Keep Your Feed Up-to-Date
A chronological feed can make it much easier to find the post you’re looking for and keep your timeline organized. Whether you’re trying to revisit a past promotion or just want to see what new content was posted yesterday, shifting to the Following feed or Favorites feed can help you do just that.
Have you tried ordering your Instagram feed by date? How did it go? Let us know in the comments below.
Disclaimer: Some pages on this site may include an affiliate link. This does not effect our editorial in any way.