Instagram is testing unskippable "Ad Breaks" lasting 3-5 seconds, disrupting user browsing experience
Instagram is testing unskippable "Ad Breaks" lasting 3-5 seconds, disrupting user browsing experience
Instagram has been testing one of its most controversial features yet: unskippable ads, and it's called Ad Breaks. Here's what we know.
What a coincidence! I've been testing something myself! I call it, "Not using Instagram for anything ever in any way whatsoever."
Zuck hates this one simple trick!
what, you don't want fake friends fake liking your fake glamorous vacation photos?
Don’t even have fake friends it’s a lot of just crap on there now. Far cry from when it was just friends and family
The memes are brilliant though
I've been practicing this since... Forever.
I've had it blocked at my DNS for years because I got tired of my eardrums being blown out every time I clicked a link because Instagram didn't (or still doesn't) have a volume slider for desktop.
I decided to delete mine today. I could not stand the homophobia I'm seeing this month, and the only reason I'm there is for drag queens,, so I'll just watch Drag Race instead.
Alternative to Instagram:
- Pixelfed (Ad-free, privacy friendly, open source and decentralized)
Pixelfed is a free and open-source image sharing social network service. The platform distinguishes itself from other image sharing services through its decentralized architecture, meaning user data is not stored on a central server. It uses the ActivityPub protocol, allowing users to interact with other social networks within the protocol, such as Mastodon, PeerTube, and Friendica. Pixelfed and other platforms utilizing this protocol are considered to be part of the Fediverse. The network is made up of several independent sites that communicate with one another, which is roughly comparable to e-mail providers. The parties involved do not all have to be registered with the same provider, but can still communicate with each other. Thus, users are able to sign up on any server and follow others on the other instances.
Much like Mastodon, Pixelfed implements chronological timelines without content manipulation algorithms. It also aims to be privacy-focused with no third party analytics or tracking. Pixelfed optionally organizes its media by hashtags, geo-tagging and likes based on each server. It also allows audiences to be distinguished in three ways and on a post-by-post basis: followers-only, public, and unlisted. Like several other social platforms, Pixelfed allows accounts to be locked, when followers must be pre-approved by the owner.
I was about to say, there's this thing called PIXELFED!! Thanks for beating me to it! Like with other Federated services there are numerous PIxelfed instances:
and a mobile app for iOS and Android
https://pixelfed.org/mobile-apps
As well as 3rd Party Apps - Pixeldroid and Fedilab on the Android side
Tusker ( I thought that was beer) for iOS.
And it all works on Mastodon (and related apps) as well
6 years of development and it’s still not on the App Store. The sole developer is also working on a whatsapp alternative, a tiktok alternative, and fediverse database api. Pixelfed wont ever compete with instagram like this, and the name doesnt help.
After facebook changed their TOS to allow them to train their ai on peoples pictures the instagram style app Cara became the 5th most popular app and gained 300,000 users in a week. Not a single person has heard of or moved to pixelfed during this.
We and the pixelfed developer should be helping Cara integrate activitypub and open source their app so the pixelfed developer can focus on one project instead of 4
TIL pixelfed own iOS app is available in beta
Yes, PixelFed is awesome! Currently in TestFlight but will be available in App and Play Stores by the end of the month.
I would drop insta in a heartbeat and switch to literally anything else, but unfortunately no one putting up pictures or video of my hobbies (the only thing I use insta for) uses anything else. Frustrating, but at the moment, my only option is to just quit insta and not switch to anything new since there's no content out there. Still considering going that route though, since insta has become super annoying to use.
I feel like we’re at the age of the internet where a strong minority (see: Lemmy users) care deeply about all the ugly exploitative and anti-consumer nature of big tech, but the vast majority of the population just… doesn’t care… and shrugs off (and enables) the continual downward spiral.
The vast majority has learned helplessness and submissiveness. It's not that they don't care, they've just been beaten down over time.
It’s about time Instagram enshittifies in a grotesque way, grotesque enough for people to realize it’s shit (because it’s enshittified).
It's a big corpo site with a bunch of normal people using it. Theirs no hope in them leaving no matter how bad it gets because "mai friends are all on it".
For being part of meta, Instagram is relatively good (Instagram let's you pause suggested post, can easily modify your algorithm by telling it what not to show or what to show, can skip ads, for now, and it's the best way to see good tik toks without going to that site), so it was just a matter of time it got enshitified
I wonder what they'll do with WhatsApp next
I use Instagram to post animal pictures. Any time I try to "browse" I see an ad every third post and give up.
I dropped Instagram, and couldn't be happier to have left that cesspool behind. No Facebook, no Instagram, no Tik Tok, no Snapchat, no LinkedIn, no no no. I'm done with the bullshit. Need to contact me? Then you probably already have my phone number, text or call. Don't have my number? Sounds like you probably don't need to get in touch with me, then.
I dropped Instagram, and couldn’t be happier to have left that cesspool behind. No [...] LinkedIn, [...]
Unfortunately not having any presence on LinkedIn makes it quite challenging to find professional-type jobs. :/
How are you going to know how to vote if you don't listen to MAGA spam in car crash/police shooting comment sections?
Is there a FOSS Instagram? I miss just having a simple "photo diary" to share with friends and family.
Pixelfed is the federated alternative, not sure if it's open source though
It is.
Pixelfed?
Oh yeah this artist I like dipped out for Cara but he didn't seem to suggest it was really an Instagram replacement.
"Testing" in case they decide they don't like money after all.
They test to verify if the user retention drop is worth the revenue increase.
Oh. Oh well, time to drop insta - not like it's been particularly good in... Ever?
I've been testing unskippable "Insta Breaks" lasting countable to uncountable infinity seconds, disrupting literally nobody.
Honestly I used Vanced patches to get rid of ads in Insta and thought I'd finally actually browse the app for once, but then I just never did.
This won't affect me - seeing as I have no use for Instagram - but I do worry that some actual DECENT sites will adopt this in the near future.
Ha ha! I don't use Instagram nor have I any interest in it whatsoever.
Every time something gets objectively worse there are always people who say "Jokes on them I don't use that!" and miss the point.
Like yeah, we get it. It's only a matter of time until this kind of bullshit reaches something you do use. You should still be bothered by this.
microsoft had a charming expression for thus kind of corporate maneuver: BOGU
I’ll either put my phone down for those three to five seconds or just force close the app. I don’t care about IG that much.
Always be bringing in ever-increasing amounts of revenue.
That's cool. I'm also testing some stuff myself. For instance, I'm testing not uploading fake pictures of fake happiness and uploading them to receive fake praise from my fake friends. Going good so far. User feedback is 100% positive.
Use Pixelfed, our very own open source and federated alternative. It's got flaws in function and development, but it's normal flaws instead of the "drink verification can corpo dystopia" variety.
And while we're at it, don't forget to give Threads the defederation hammer.
The tiktok ban is paying off much more than just repressing the truth in palestine. That monopoly privilege. $$$
