Instagram feed algorithm seems to take into account your WhatsApp correspondence.
I've been trying to tame tracking from services like Facebook. I installed many ad blockers and tracker blockers on all of my browser, I don't install FB app on my phone, but I still install Instagram app and WhatsApp.
Something creepy (but totally expected) just happened to me. I haven't really been in contact with a friend of mine for quite some time, and we finally chatted again using WhatsApp. Not long after that I opened Instagram, and her photo was the first one I saw haha. It's funny because I don't think I've seen any photos from her in quite some time before this on my IG feed.
Might just be a coincidence, but with all discussion about how creepy they're trying to make their platform as sticky as possible, I wouldn't be surprised if IG's feed algorithm do take into account your correspondence on WhatsApp as well (I live in a country where everyone uses WhatsApp).
(I moved this from ~tildes to ~tech, hopefully you don't mind)
Weird, I thought I posted this to ~tech 😅
Thanks!
I finally bit the bullet a few weeks ago and deleted Instagram. Only then did I realize I wasn't missing out on anything by not using Instagram. Life is pretty much the same, if not better.
I've never understood why people would use Instagram, personal preference, I guess. The reason I use facebook is because art, music & my other hobbies have shit load of content on it. If I tell my friends & family to stop using Whatsapp and start using signal. They'll just admit me to a Mental Asylum. Damn, I wish the world was more aware of shit like this.
I honestly quite enjoy Instagram. Facebook is just a cesspit in my social circles these days and Instagram is a fairly nice way for getting that dopamine hit you get from social media, without the majority of the nonsense you see on Facebook.
Snapchat however - I recently deleted that and my life has improved since.
Well Facebook owns WhatsApp, and Instagram, so you'd assume they're all linked at the back end by now, or at least all feeding user interaction and friends lists to each other to help their algorithms figure out as many personal connections as possible. It's their entire aim. Figure out who you know (and what you like), and use that to target ads and content at you to maximise your interaction with their platform.