"If you've encountered them, you may have noticed how although five seconds isn't long, in that moment it can feel irrationally so, as it creates a strange tension when the thumb expects the interface the interface to keep moving, and it suddenly doesn't. Then when the countdown reaches zero and the feed releases, you continue scrolling but somehow you're suddenly more aware of what you're doing. Instagram has always been ad-supported, with sponsored posts that appear between updates in the feed,"
"Instagram has always been ad-supported, with sponsored posts that appear between updates in the feed, Stories, and Reels, and most of us have accepted this trade-off - the platform is free, so we scroll past the commercials without much friction. These new ad breaks, however, work differently as they freeze the feed, and the experience that defined Instagram, that made it feel effortless and absorbing, suddenly resists."
Meta introduced unskippable, countdown ads on Instagram that block the feed and prevent scrolling until the timer ends. The five-second interruptions create a tension because the thumb expects the interface to keep moving. Users often feel the pause as irrationally long and become more aware of their actions when the feed resumes. Instagram is ad-supported with sponsored posts in the feed, Stories, and Reels. Users had largely accepted ads as the trade-off for a free platform and scrolled past them with little friction. The new ad breaks freeze the feed and disrupt the effortless, absorbing Instagram experience.
Read at Medium
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