Instapainintheass

A few years ago, I walked away from Facebook for a number of reasons but mostly because I was getting tired of the posts that would show up in my feed that weren't from friends or seemingly related to what I was interested in.

I didn't know how their algorithms worked but they didn't seem to know me at all.

I still have a Facebook account but I never post to it. In fact, I removed all my older posts and shared photos. And I only check on it once every few months or so, just to see how the handful of people that I still 'follow' are doing (though, in truth, DW is connected to them as well and periodically gives me updates).

For years (I suspect, since FB bought them), Instagram has begun adding ads to my feed, and I suppose that's suspected, since the app is free (we are the product, though, aren't we?). But then Instagram started adding other users, who I don't follow, into my feed.

And that irks me. It's like spam in my e-mail inbox.

Previously, I would be able to scroll through my feed and see the photos from people that I specifically followed, and when I had caught up, I could continue scrolling and would be shown images from people that I didn't follow but whom the algorithm had calculated took similar photos and thought I'd be interested.

Fair enough.

Now, complete strangers are showing up in my feed before I've caught up with the work of people I'm following. Sometimes, it takes a lot of scrolling through these random photographers to see the people that I'm interested in. And I can't find a way to stop it.

There doesn't seem to be a setting in the app that lets me block strangers from the first part of my feed. Do you know of such a setting? If so, please let me know in the Comments section.

I find this 'intrusion' so distracting that I feel like it's work to find the folks I follow, and I'm almost tempted to say "screw it, I'm dumping Instagram."

As with Facebook, I would remove the photos that I've taken. With more than 3,900 photos, that's a lot of work. But unlike FB, I wouldn't keep the account around. I'd just close it.

I don't want to do that. I like sharing my photos on the app and have been doing so for years before FB came along and ruined it. Every so often, I scroll back to the first photo that I ever posted to Instagram. It's Kid 2, snuggling with our dearly departed kitty, Edwin.

First Instagram photo.

But if I can't easily see the photos I want to see, if I have to scroll through photos and ads that are more of a distraction than a benefit, I may have to say goodbye to the app I've loved for so many years.

What are your thoughts about Instagram?