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I thought this had already been happening for quite some time? In my experience, I was no longer able to browse without an account on either my laptop or my mo

I thought this had already been happening for quite some time? In my experience, I was no longer able to browse without an account on either my laptop or my mobile device for a few months now

jonathanbull 6y ago
Yep, this happened at least five months ago. https://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2019/10/28/instagram-now-forces-people-to-sign-in-to-view-public-profiles/ https://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2019/10/28/instagram-now-...
- rpgbr 6y ago
  That is a different issue. What The Next Web reported is when you scroll down a bit and Instagram shows the login/register form. Now, no matter what photo or video, even if it's the first one, it asks you to login.
rpgbr 6y ago
Author here. Previously, it only happened when I was using a VPN, even if its server was in Brazil, where I live. I also checked with friends and relatives living in another cities in Brazil. They also hit that form when trying to access photos unlogged.
basch 6y ago
Correct. This is not a new behavior. Also, did the author check for any kind of cookie or fingerprinting? I would guess Instagram is much more likely to allow some sample viewing, and by clearing all stored data, you can get another quantity of samples. I would have tried that first before the user agent. A more accurate title would probably be (this is conjecture) "Instagram expands loginwall to other countries, eg Brazil"
- rpgbr 6y ago
  Tested with different browsers, computers, connections, even cities. Another user here thought the post was about that scrolling limit that's in place for a few months now. That's different. I wasn't able, previous to publication, to confirm if this is happening in other countries, but here in hacker news there are more users reporting the same issue.
  - basch 6y ago
    Im still not convinced that Instagram hasnt figured out a way to identify you and your friends, and has decided theyve used up their trial images. But maybe you are right, maybe you are part of some kind of A/B test to see if an immediate loginwall, with no trial or sample, increases or decreases sign ups.
    - rpgbr 6y ago
      It's a possibility, and I shouldn't doubt Facebook's reach. Anyway, these friends and relatives I've asked for help they all have Instagram accounts and use the app regularly, always logged-in, and yet that popup showed up in their first attempt to see a picture logged off.
      - basch 6y ago
        I would expect all those people to have a cookie or equivalent tracker saying "this person has been to instagram before"

I thought this had already been happening for quite some time? In my experience, I was no longer able to browse without an account on either my laptop or my mobile device for a few months now

jonathanbull 6y ago

Yep, this happened at least five months ago. https://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2019/10/28/instagram-now-forces-people-to-sign-in-to-view-public-profiles/ https://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2019/10/28/instagram-now-...

rpgbr 6y ago
That is a different issue. What The Next Web reported is when you scroll down a bit and Instagram shows the login/register form. Now, no matter what photo or video, even if it's the first one, it asks you to login.

rpgbr 6y ago

Author here. Previously, it only happened when I was using a VPN, even if its server was in Brazil, where I live. I also checked with friends and relatives living in another cities in Brazil. They also hit that form when trying to access photos unlogged.

basch 6y ago

Correct. This is not a new behavior. Also, did the author check for any kind of cookie or fingerprinting? I would guess Instagram is much more likely to allow some sample viewing, and by clearing all stored data, you can get another quantity of samples. I would have tried that first before the user agent. A more accurate title would probably be (this is conjecture) "Instagram expands loginwall to other countries, eg Brazil"

rpgbr 6y ago
Tested with different browsers, computers, connections, even cities. Another user here thought the post was about that scrolling limit that's in place for a few months now. That's different. I wasn't able, previous to publication, to confirm if this is happening in other countries, but here in hacker news there are more users reporting the same issue.
- basch 6y ago
  Im still not convinced that Instagram hasnt figured out a way to identify you and your friends, and has decided theyve used up their trial images. But maybe you are right, maybe you are part of some kind of A/B test to see if an immediate loginwall, with no trial or sample, increases or decreases sign ups.
  - rpgbr 6y ago
    It's a possibility, and I shouldn't doubt Facebook's reach. Anyway, these friends and relatives I've asked for help they all have Instagram accounts and use the app regularly, always logged-in, and yet that popup showed up in their first attempt to see a picture logged off.
    - basch 6y ago
      I would expect all those people to have a cookie or equivalent tracker saying "this person has been to instagram before"