• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, March 16, 2016

According to Instagram, the average user doesn’t see 70% of the posts in their feed, meaning they’re almost certainly missing some of the most interesting content from people they’re following. However the social network is working to change that, unveiling a new algorithmic system for determining which posts get top billing in users’ feeds, replacing the previous straight reverse chronological order.

The announcement from Instagram states: “The order of photos and videos in your feed will be based on the likelihood you’ll be interested in the content, your relationship with the person posting and the timeliness of the post,” adding that to begin with, “all the posts will still be there, just in a different order.” Over time, however, the network may start filtering out some posts if they are irrelevant or of low quality.

The move puts Instagram on the same page as Facebook (which owns the photo sharing app) and Twitter, which both scrapped reverse chronological displays in favor of algorithmic ordering, selecting top posts based on users’ interests and engagement. And like the other nets, Instagram’s algorithmic move aims to increase user engagement but may also come at the expense of brands, putting even more pressure on them to stay relevant and win top billing in the new order with high-quality content.

Last month, Instagram revealed it has over 200,000 clients using it to advertise each month, with around three quarters of the app’s active advertisers coming from outside the U.S., according to The Drum.

Meanwhile, Instagram is also moving to tighten controls over how third party developers can access and display Instagram content. It has closed down API access for a variety of alternative photo-browsing apps, although it still permits access by photo editing apps.