💻 [OBO DIGEST] IG’s Chronological Feed Is Coming Back?

Written by: Online Business Owner • December 13, 2021

As we mark month 2 of OnlineBusinessOwner.com, I want to say a quick THANK YOU to each and everyone one of you who read, forward, share, and reply to The Online Business Digest each week!

Your continued readership and support means so much to me and the entire team -- thank you!

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News + Happenings

Instagram May Bring Back the Chronological Feed

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri left his plywood-covered home office to sit with a Senate subcommittee last week. He was questioned about the app’s impact on younger users in light of recent allegations from the Facebook Papers and the Facebook whistleblower.

But it’s another story entirely that’s making headlines from his testimony -- Mosseri revealed that the ‘gram is testing a chronological feed option AND a new Favorites function to help users decide which posts to see more of.

But WHY now? And what would giving users more control over their feed do for Instagram and their parent company Meta? 

Not to put a damper on your “Welcome Back Chrono Feed!” party; but, we’re pretty confident the move has more to do with Mosseri, Zuckerberg, and crew covering their a$$ than anything else. 

(Stick with us...this’ll only take a sec. And spoiler alert: Instagram isn’t listening to its users and their requests for the return of the chronological feed *sad trombone*.)

It all has to do with this itty bitty regulation called Section 230 (wait -- don’t scroll away -- we’ll make it quick!) that limits liability for companies like Facebook (and TikTok, Twitter, etc.) from the content their users post on the platform. 

Section 230 shields Meta (or LinkedIn or Pinterest) from being held liable for what their users post (The Verge has a great deep dive if you want to nerd out with us).

This topic -- of Section 230 and tech companies and their liability based on user speech and behavior -- has been a hot topic since November 2016 (hmmm...I wonder why...what happened then?). Some elected officials are looking for ways to use the regulation to clamp down on tech giants and hold them responsible for their users behavior (you know how some people used FB Groups to organize storming the US Capitol earlier this year). While tech companies are scrambling to find ways to further reduce their responsibilities for users and their content.

What does this all have to do with Instagram and a chronological feed option for users?

Well, the more control they give YOU over your feed the less liability they will take for what you see. Why? Because their algorithm is no longer suggesting content for you (the algorithm was a big player in the Facebook Whistleblower’s testimony earlier this year -- she blamed it for “stoking division” and “harming children”) and instead, you’re simply seeing the content based on when it was posted.

Will the chronological feed and this new Favorites feature come to life in 2022? And, if so, what will it look like for users? We’ll have to wait and see!

Why this matters for online business

The return of the chronological feed could mean that users are seeing content in a more natural way than based on the current algorithmic sorting on the app. That may mean a better user experience for some. And it could mean that the days of posting more content throughout the day return as brands need to stay top of mind and top of feed. A Favorites function in the app would also push creators and online business owners to make better content so their followers mark them as a Fave to see more of their posts.

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Building (and Strengthening) the Creator Middle Class

In a new article for Worth, Thinkific Founder and CEO Greg Smith, writes about the need to build and strengthen a middle class of creators running their online businesses. Instead of focusing solely on big creator names like Mr. Beast and the like (who are raking in millions of dollars from YouTube views alone), we should be helping everyday folks who want to earn a living by creating and sharing their work online.

While there are over 50 million people currently participating in the creator economy, less than 2 million are actually making it full-time as content creators. The issue is common on social media platforms and creator platforms like Spotify, Patreon, and OnlyFans. “On Spotify, 90 percent of royalties are made by less than 2 percent of the site’s artists…[on] Patreon, meanwhile, only 2 percent of creators were able to earn minimum wage.” 

Smith writes that the key to finding financial success as a creator is to move beyond relying on platforms like YouTube (that pay several dollars per 1,000 views) to a direct payment model where fans and followers can tip, subscribe, and buy from creators to fund their work.

“That’s why, to me, the most viable model is one where creators are freed entirely from reliance on a third-party site, marketplace or brand.” It’s the concept of ownership, Smith writes, that “lies at the heart of building a flourishing creator middle class.” He goes on to break down how ownership works for creators using platforms like Wordpress, Shopify, and Thinkific to monetize their brands...

• The creator owns the business—the website, the brand, the data.

• The creator owns the direct customer relationship. 

• The creator owns the product being sold.

• This direct sale approach translates, in turn, to more revenue per user.

Read more about building (and strengthening) the creator middle class >>

Why this matters for online business

There seems to be a constant push in many online business circles to build bigger and bigger businesses; but, what if we focused instead on helping people build the right size business to help them achieve their financial goals? Instead of assuming everyone who starts a business wants to be at the top of their niche or industry, we should think about what it would look like to build a thriving middle class within the online business sector.

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Social Media News + Updates

📸  Instagram is testing longer 60 second (instead of 15 second) videos in Stories

📸  Instagram’s companion app Threads (designed for Close Friends and messaging) goes away this month 

📺  YouTube is testing a new ‘Search Insights’ tool to help creators make better content

🐦  Twitter acquires Quill (a would-be Slack rival); Quill team to work on Twitter DM functions

👥  A new suite of tools for Facebook Live creators has been announced including featured links, live polls, 4-person live rooms, and more

👥 Facebook introduces “professional mode” to allow creators to monetize their personal profiles without using Pages

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In Other News

🤑  Grammarly raises $200M to expand its AI-powered writing suggestions platform, now valued at $13B

🌌  Internal documents reveal that Meta (formerly Facebook) doesn't plan to fully invest in digital commerce and the Metaverse until 2023

⏺️  Digital community and membership platform Circle announces nearly $25M raised and $200M valuation after Series A

💰  There is still time to get funding from the SBA through the Covid EIDL program -- you have until 12/31 to apply or appeal an earlier denial

🚴 Peloton responds to surprise death in “And Just Like That” with a new commercial

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