Instagram users are revolting...against horizontal scrolling - Notebookcheck.net

The update temporarily introduced horizontal swiping to shocked Instagram users. (Source: NBC New York)

A test feature rolled-out by Instagram has been met with the apparent universal disapproval of the social network’s army of fans. The updated software meant Instagram users had to swipe through feeds in a horizontal manner rather than via the tried and tested vertical scrolling method. Unsurprisingly, the update was rapidly rolled back.

by Daniel R Deakin, 2018/12/28

It seems if the developers at Instagram ever wanted to overhaul one of the world’s most popular software applications, they would be better off avoiding trying to integrate a horizontal swiping method for browsing through feeds. Millions of users of the social network received an update today that implemented this system, much to the umbrage of the vocal majority.

The current head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, took to Twitter to respond to comments about the new update. His initial statement made the issue sound like it was all a bit of a mistake:

Sorry about that, this was supposed to be a very small test but we went broader than we anticipated.

Accidental glitch or not, it’s likely the team at Instagram were surprised by the overwhelmingly negative response the update initiated. Comments like “test failed,” “never do it again,” “absolutely awful,” and “everyone hates it” were some of the politer posts made. Some Instagrammers even went as far as to threaten to return to using Snapchat, which also faced a huge backlash after redesigning its user interface.

This is not the first time Instagram has faced a wave of criticism. Many users are still upset about losing the chronological feed for photos, which was replaced by an algorithm-controlled feed in 2016. The social network has also been called out for playing a potentially negative role in the mental health and welfare of young users. It remains to be seen whether Instagram will try to roll out this now-controversial feature again, considering the hostile feedback the test received.

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