Instagram Relocates Timestamps on Posts To Make It Easier To See When A Post Was Published

Instagram / Lindsey Gamble

Instagram relocated the timestamp on posts. Now, the timestamp appears at the top of the post, next to the use handles, as opposed to being at the bottom after comments.

Why It Matters: This change is likely a way to make it clearer for people to know when the post they are seeing was actually published. As the algorithm is based on recommended content and not chronological content, you’ll often see content that was published a few days or even weeks ago. In most cases, this isn’t an issue, but when it comes to content focused on events, news, or sports — which social media platforms are becoming more of a destination for — it can be a little confusing.

So, while Instagram likely will never go back to a main feed that is chronologically ordered, making it more prominent when a post is published can give more context and balance.

Interestingly, LinkedIn made a similar move about two months ago but did the opposite. It relocated the timestamp on posts from being prominently displayed under a user’s name to the bottom of the post, indicating a focus on evergreen content over content published recently.

These types of updates aren't as exciting as when a social media platform launches a new feature or tool, but they can be fun to try to reverse-engineer why they might be making this change.