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Instagram Faces Criticism After Shifting to Video Content

July 27, 2022

Instagram has been going through some changes recently, but not everyone is here for it. Both Instagram and Facebook, which are owned by Meta, have been going through some changes to compete with TikTok. If you have not been on the app lately, some major changes include pushing video content over photos, meaning some people are no longer seeing their friend’s photos on their feed. Instead, they see influencers’ videos or viral videos, even if they do not follow them.

Users have noticed the app is completely different from its origins. Ever since Instagram stopped showing feeds in chronological order, people have been complaining for quite some time. But, recently, even celebrities have been voicing their complaints about the latest shift. Kylie Jenner, who is the third most followed person on the app, reposted a photo on her story begging for Instagram to go back to its original roots. Kim Kardashian later reposted the same photo, which some thought signaled trouble for the app. 

Instagram is trying so hard to compete with TikTok that they’re trying to become another TikTok. If I wanted to see video after video from random pages I don’t follow, I wouldn’t be on Instagram. Do what we need from you, and bring back the photos of our actual friends!!!

— TONI TONE (@t0nit0ne) July 24, 2022

 In 2018, Jenner posted about not ever using Snapchat, causing the app to lose 1.3 billion dollars in stock prices. So, with celebrities like Jenner and Kardashian opening up about their distaste for the app, some believed this would prove to have dire consequences for Instagram.

Mosseri explains how although the app will continue to be a place for photos, he believes the app will be more for videos over time and justifies that even if the app changed nothing, this would occur. He says more people are consuming more video content and that is why the app will be making these changes. Still, not a lot of people were happy with this response.  Instagram has nearly one billion users on the platform itself, but in 2020 TikTok became the most downloaded app in the world and its younger fan base began spending more time on it than on Instagram and Facebook alike. 

There’s a lot happening on Instagram right now.

I wanted to address a few things we’re working on to make Instagram a better experience.

Please let me know what you think pic.twitter.com/x1If5qrCyS

— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) July 26, 2022

 This has even caused so much of an uproar that dozens of content creators picketed outside of the company’s New York headquarters to protest the new community guidelines making it difficult for many to create content and even discover new users.  A large amount of press has circulated on the potential downfall of Instagram with these video updates. Many of these articles have noted that lifestyle, food, and even travel creators wonder if their livelihood of creating content online is at stake if they don’t make the shift to creating video content.

Frankly the app has become miserable to use. Reach/engagement has plummeted, and all I see are ads at the top of my feed and Reels. I get the need to be competitive… but not at the cost of destroying what you do best

— Sam Stryker (@sbstryker) July 26, 2022

 Even popular celebrity Chrissy Teigen responded, saying “we don’t wanna make videos, Adam.” She continues, saying “I guess for me it’s not just that I suck at making videos. It’s that I don’t see my actual friend’s posts and they don’t see mine, and I see the same people over and over and over,” which is something many also complain about. Although many people seemed to object to the changes with Instagram, it seems as if the app would be continuing to go through its changes in an attempt to be competitive with TikTok.