*By Justin Chermol and Lillie Carlson* Instagram accidentally released an update to its app on Thursday, enraging users and igniting a firestorm on social media. The social media platform, which hit 1 billion users in June, modified how users view their main feeds ー switching from a vertical scroll to a horizontal swipe, à la popular dating app, Tinder. Instagram head Adam Mosseri [@replied](https://twitter.com/mosseri/status/1078321786586951680) to a tweet from Cheddar's Alex Health, saying the change was originally meant to be a "very small test" but quickly became "broader" than the company anticipated. "It doesn't sound like much of a change until you try it," Heath said on Thursday. Social media erupted with anger after users discovered the change. "They're saying this wasn't meant to be rolled out to everyone, but it quickly became the top-trending category on Twitter this morning," Heath said, adding, "we know by now ー thanks to things like the Snapchat redesign ー people hate changes to apps like these." According to Heath, most executives at Instagram are on vacation over the holidays, so the new swipe function was likely just a test, as Mosseri claimed. Instagram affirmed Mosseri's tweet and eventually released a contrite statement. “Due to a bug, some users saw a change to the way their feed appears today,” Instagram said. “We quickly fixed the issue and feed is back to normal. We apologize for any confusion.” The update seemed to affect only iPhone users; Android users did not report seeing the change, nor did those using Instagram on desktop computers. The app reverted back to its normal settings within an hour of the update. "They received a ton of backlash and I think they saw the reception loud and clear and backpedaled right away," Heath said. "The moral of today is that nothing should ever change."

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