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Is Instagram revealing my stalkers? - YouTube
Channel: The Verge
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- A lot of us have some wild ideas
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about how Instagram
works and it's probably
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because we're confused
why the app's arranged
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in certain ways.
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Like why is one person in my
feed first versus someone else?
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Or, more crucially, why is my crush always
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at the top of my story viewers?
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Is it because they're stalking my page?
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Here's what I know.
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Instagram has one billion
users, including myself,
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and the app hasn't been super forthcoming
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about how its algorithm works.
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The company treats it like
it's the Coca-Cola recipe
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or something, even a
New York Times article
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mentioned the stalker idea.
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So how does Instagram
rank people in stories
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and in the app in general?
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Does it actually show me the
people who stalk me the most?
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We went to Instagram to find out.
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(medium-paced jazz music)
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That's Julian Gutman, product lead
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for Instagram home, which includes
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Instagram stories and the feed.
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First things first, let's
address the stalker myth.
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- So the answer is,
the people that show up
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on that list are not the
people that stalk you the most.
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It's actually based on your activity
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and people that you're closest to.
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- All right, you heard that.
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Instagram isn't going to show you
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who's stalking you the most.
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Instead, it's the people
you're interacting with.
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So if you go to your crush's page
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or even your frenemy's page all the time,
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it's likely they're going to show up
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at the top of your story viewers.
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- I think there are often
these kind of situations
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where there are a lot
of confounding factors.
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But you can kind of create
a narrative around it,
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maybe based on what you wanna think
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or sort of what's interesting to you.
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- It's totally possible that
I'm projecting a narrative
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onto my story viewers because
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I'm actually the one stalking them.
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Although I have to say I don't
think I'm creeping that much,
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so what else am I doing in the app
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that makes Instagram think
I care about these people?
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- [Julian] Do you visit their profile?
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Do you like their feed posts?
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Do you comment on their feed posts?
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Do you view their stories?
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- But Julian wouldn't get specific
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about how certain interactions
are weighted in the app.
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Like whether a like is less significant
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than a DM or a comment.
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Or what happens if a DM is
opened but not responded to?
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How does that affect the algorithm?
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Even what you do outside the
app can affect your feed.
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Like who you're connected
to on Instagram's
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parent company, Facebook.
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Even still, I sometimes have random people
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in my story viewers
list that I barely know.
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- Do you check the list multiple times?
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If you check the list multiple times
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it tries to show you a new set of people.
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So it's trying to give you new information
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every time you check the list.
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- So if you're like me,
and you check your story
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multiple times after you first post it,
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you're probably going to see new people
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at the top of your
viewers because Instagram
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always wants you to have a new experience
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when you open the app.
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This whole strategy around showing
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you relevant, interesting
content led the company
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to change its feed from
chronological to algorithmic.
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When this happened in 2016, Instagram said
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people were missing 70%
of posts in their feed,
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so it wanted to optimize
the 30% they did see.
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Facebook's feed works the same way.
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The algorithm's everywhere.
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When that switch happened two years ago,
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it was super controversial,
but I actually like it.
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The feed works as it's
supposed to most of the time,
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my best friend's posts
populate at the top of my feed,
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although because Instagram always wants
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to show me new content,
it sometimes refreshes
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too quickly and I don't
have a chance to scroll.
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Okay, so I'm starting to understand
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why I see certain people in
certain places on the app,
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even though Julian wouldn't
get super granular.
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He's guarding that algorithm.
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Ultimately, it comes down to self-control.
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Everything we do on the
app molds the algorithm.
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So maybe I shouldn't look at
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my random Tinder date's profile.
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I'd rather have my best
friends at the top of my feed.
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Resist the boy click.
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If I were to guess why this myth exists,
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it's probably because deep down,
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we know that who we look
at and stalk on Instagram
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says a lot about our
priorities and interests.
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I don't want to admit that
I look at my ex's profile,
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but Instagram knows all our secrets.
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Our interactions don't lie.
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I just hope the app never actually exposes
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my stalking habits.
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Hey, thanks for watching.
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If you haven't subscribed to The Verge yet
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you should do that, and then you should
[234]
go check out our sister site, Eater.
[236]
They publish a series called
the Kitchen Gadget Test Show,
[239]
which involves testing
gadgets in the kitchen.
[241]
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