These are the most annoying Instagram features

I have a love-hate relationship with Instagram. On one hand, I enjoy using it to share my photos, videos, and stories with my friends and followers. I also like discovering new content, trends, and people on the platform. On the other hand, I find some of the features on Instagram very annoying and frustrating. They either don’t work well, don’t make sense, or don’t add any value to my experience.

So, in this article, I will tell you about these features and why I think they are annoying. After doing a bit of research, I realized that these features are equally disliked by many users globally.

Most annoying Instagram features

Here are some features on Instagram that I find very annoying and frustrating. They either make me want to delete the app or switch to another platform.

1. Vanish Mode

Vanish Mode is a feature that allows you to send temporary messages that disappear after they are seen or when the chat ends. It is supposed to offer more privacy and fun for users who want to have secret conversations or send sensitive content. However, a number of users have complained about how this feature works and how it affects their chats.

One of the main issues with Vanish Mode is that it is not very intuitive or user-friendly. To activate it, you have to swipe up from the bottom of the chat screen and release. To deactivate it, you have to do the same thing again. However, there have multiple instances when I accidentally activated the mode that resulted in the disappearance of messages sent by my friend. And after scrolling social media, I came to the conclusion that I’m not alone. Several users have also reported grappling with this problem.

Therefore, many users find Vanish Mode annoying and unnecessary, as it causes more trouble than benefits. Some users have suggested that Instagram should add a toggle or an option to enable or disable Vanish Mode easily and permanently.

2. Notes

I remember how the Notes feature drew flak when it was first unveiled in December last year. And it seems users have still not gotten the hang of it. This functionality allows you to post short status updates of up to 60 characters that use text and emojis. Each note lasts for up to 24 hours, or until you delete or replace it.

However, I find this feature pointless. I believe that this feature is very similar to the stories feature, which already allows users to post short updates with text and emojis that last for 24 hours. The only difference is that notes appear in the Chats section instead of the Stories section. This creates confusion and redundancy for users who don’t see the need for two separate features that do essentially the same thing.

Now with the recent updates that allow users to add music to their Notes, it has become even more annoying. Even if people want to share their views and thoughts, I surely believe there are better ways to do so. Moreover, there have been reports where users have said that they don’t care about what other people are posting on their notes and would rather focus on their own messages.

3. Broadcast Channel

I find it really annoying when I get invited to join people’s Broadcast Channel every now and then. The Broadcast Channel essentially allows users to create a public one-to-many messaging tool where they can invite their followers to engage with them. Creators can use texts, photos, videos and voice notes to share their latest updates and even create polls to crowdsource fan feedback or ideas. It only allows the person who created the channel to send messages, while followers can only react to their content and vote in polls.

However, I’ve come across various reports where users find this feature spammy and annoying. They have reported that they get too many notifications and invitations from other users to join their broadcast channels, which they find irritating and intrusive. Moreover, broadcast channel is very limited and boring for users who want to interact more with other users in a more conversational and collaborative way. Users can only react to or vote on other people’s messages in their broadcast channels, which are not very engaging compared to other types of interactions such as comments or replies.

Therefore, it’d be great if Instagram gave us an option to turn off broadcast channel notifications or invitations or at least mute or block them from our screens.

4. Auto-scroll feature

It really bothers me when Instagram doesn’t let me use the app the way I like it. Yes, I’m talking about the Auto-scroll feature. This feature automatically scrolls to the next image in a carousel post or even scrolls to the next post or reel. It is supposed to be a convenient and enjoyable feature to browse through content without having to swipe manually. However, I find this feature really annoying and frustrating.

Some users have also reported that they find it hard to keep up with the speed of the auto-scroll feature. It makes them miss out on some content or see content that they are not interested in. While others claim that they find it annoying that they cannot go back to the previous post easily, as the feature keeps moving them forward.

So, Instagram should give us an option to turn off auto-scroll feature completely or at least adjust its speed or direction.

5. Algorithm

Algorithm is a set of rules that Instagram uses to determine what content to show you and in what order. It is designed to provide a personalized experience, showing you content that it predicts you will find most interesting. It is supposed to be a helpful feature for users who want to see relevant and quality content on the platform. However, many users find it unfair and annoying.

Like many other users, I also often run into issues with Instagram Algorithm. There have been times when the algorithm is absolutely broken and shows me pretty random content. This becomes very unfair, especially when I’m trying to grow and reach more people.

Algorithm is also annoying for users who want to have more transparency and control over their experience. Some users feel like they don’t understand how the algorithm works or why it shows them certain content. While others believe that they don’t really have any option to influence the algorithm’s decisions. So, I believe that an option to switch to a chronological feed can really help tackle algorithm-related problems.

Conclusion

To conclude, Instagram is a great platform that offers many useful and interesting features. However, I find some of them poorly designed, inconvenient, or useless. They even cause annoyance, frustration, and dissatisfaction for users who want to have an enjoyable experience on the platform. So, all Instagram can do is improve, modify, or remove these annoying features or at least give us more options and control over them.

These were my thoughts on some of the features that I find annoying. Let me what you feel about them in the comment section below.

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