Instagram's latest update de-emphasises your follower count

One of the (many) criticisms of Instagram has been that the image-sharing platform puts too great an emphasis on follower-count, leading to a perception that the platform emphasises the work of users with large numbers of followers over those who only have a few.

However a new update to be launched in the coming weeks makes a number of subtle changes to the instagram home page and will go a little way towards acknowledging that a focus on follower numbers is turning people off instagram.

Instagram calls the changes a test of ways to "better express yourself and more easily connect with the people you care about on your profile." 

The changes come at an interesting time for the Facebook-owned media company. In September, founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger announced they plan to leave the company where they have remained on the board of directors since it's purchase in 2012, and Bailey Richardson, one of the 13 instagram founders, recently penned an op-ed for the Washington Post explaining why she was quitting the platform. 

In recent weeks Instagram has also announced plans to more stricly police bot accounts by promising to kill accounts that are followed by excessive numbers of 'fake' followers and bot accounts. 

You can read more about the upcoming changes here.