Let’s just say it. We all love Instagram. Some of us cannot even start our morning without it. But just like a teenager, it was slowly succumbing to social pressure and changing its core personality into something it’s not.
So like any observant and dedicated social media user, some people complained that Instagram was starting to look a lot like TikTok and decided to let this issue not slide. Celebrity sisters Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner were some of the most vocal users to have posted messages on the social media this week calling for the company to “make Instagram Instagram again” and stop trying to be like TikTok.
The slogan was taken from a change.org petition that had received more than 229,000 signatures as of late Thursday. “Let’s go back to our roots with Instagram and remember that the intention behind Instagram was to share photos, for Pete’s sake,” the petition read.
Adam Mosseri Instagram chief had responded to the controversy earlier this week with a video on Twitter in which he said the features were a work in progress, and being tested with a small number of users.
“I’m glad we took a risk,” Mosseri was quoted as saying on Thursday in an interview with Platformer’s Casey Newton. “But we definitely need to take a big step back and regroup.”
“If we’re not failing every once in a while, we’re not thinking big enough or bold enough,” Mosseri said.
👋🏼 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
Changes included playing up short-form video, displaying it full-screen the way TikTok does, and recommending posts from strangers.
Of course TikToc will be on a new high when they see ginormous companies trying to copy some of their features. Both Meta and Google are among companies facing increased competition from TikTok for people’s attention and have launched their own versions of short-form video sharing.
