Instagram Accidentally Rolls Out Horizontal Scroll, Freaks Out Users

Instagram users are breathing a sigh of relief after parent company Facebook, Inc. FB removed an unpopular change to the platform.

What Happened

Many Instagram users woke up Thursday to a surprising change to the platform in which they need to scroll horizontally or tap through posts on their main page. The hashtag "instagramupdate" quickly became the top trending topic in the U.S. as users were annoyed with new feature which makes it more complicated to scroll through posts, including advertisements, CNBC reported.

Instagram Head of Product Adam Mosseri said in a tweet that the feature was meant to be a "very small test but we went broader than we anticipated." He said the feature should be rolled back for users and those who still see it need to simply restart the app.

Why It's Important

Some Instagram users compared the new feature to rival social media company Snap Inc SNAP, whose app redesign was met with a similar negative reaction.

The Verge's Chaim Gartenberg wrote that even if Thursday's update was a mistake, there's reason to believe Instagram is "taking the horizontal feed seriously." He also wrote it may just be a matter of time before the change is introduced to all users for good.

Snap's stock is down nearly 70 percent for the year, while Facebook's stock is down 32 percent.

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