Facebook has issued an update for Instagram for iOS that is likely to cut down on the number of updates from the photo sharing app that appear on Facebook.
That’s because the change in version 5.0.11 has removed the auto-sharing of activity to Facebook. Now users will only be able to share images deliberately to Facebook — using the the in-app share button — since “Instagram likes and activity will no longer be shared on Facebook”.
It’s not exactly clear why Facebook is doing this. It could be that the app is so popular with its 200 million monthly users that it is creating mountains of notifications that are cluttering people’s Facebook Timelines.
Giving Instagram greater independence of Facebook could also be a part of the company’s ‘unbundling’ of its mobile apps — it released the standalone Paper app earlier this year, and has removed messaging from its iOS and Android apps, pushing users to the Facebook Messenger app instead.
Whatever the reason, you may find fewer Instagram mentions on Facebook now that the focus is on deliberate (qualitative) sharing, rather than automated (quantitative) sharing.
It’s worth noting that the update appears to be for iOS only, since it is not appearing in the changelog for the Android app at this point.
Image via Thomas Coex / AFP / Getty Images
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