Instagram’s changes to app spark backlash

You may have noticed that your Instagram account looks different, this is because Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri has decided to make some changes to make the experience more “immersive” much to many people’s dismay including some big celebrities who have also shared their dislike for the new updates.

Users will have noticed recently that their feeds that look remarkably similar to another social media app. Where there used to be photos and posts from accounts you follow, there are now suggested videos and reels, mimicking the format of TikTok. The app is also testing a full-screen feed instead of its usual square post feed. 

Adam Mosseri, Instagram CEO, posted a reply where he highlights the aspects of concern among the Instagram users. 

Some of the new changes he addressed are as follows:

• Full screen feed – Mosseri reminds users that this is currently only in test mode, and that it is ‘not yet good’.
• Shift to video – Mosseri says that while video has inevitably become more of a focus for the app, photos remain a key element, and ‘part of our heritage’.
• Recommendations in-stream – Mosseri also addresses the increase of recommended posts in your Home feed, which are posts from people and pages that you don’t follow, interspersed between the posts that you’ve directly chosen to see. Mosseri says that Instagram’s committed to showing people more content that they might like as this is ‘one of the most effective and important ways to help creators reach more people’.

“Instagram is trying so hard to compete with TikTok that they’re trying to become another TikTok,” author Toni Tone tweeted. “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!!!”

Another person wrote, “the Instagram update is terrible, let TikTok be TikTok and let Instagram be Instagram.  They’re killing their platform.”

The Kardashians have also had their say on the changes, with Kylie and Kim posting their dislike that they have for the new version.

The petition “Make Instagram, Instagram again has gathered over 202,580 signatures. So, with this petition gathering speed, the question is will CEO, Adam Mosseri, do as his users wish and revert to the old Instagram or not?

However, this public outcry seems to have had an impact. With a Meta spokesperson told the BBC: “Based on our findings and community feedback, we’re pausing the full-screen test on Instagram so we can explore other options, and we’re temporarily decreasing the number of recommendations you see in your feed so we can improve the quality of your experience.

“We recognise that changes to the app can be an adjustment, and while we believe that Instagram needs to evolve as the world changes, we want to take the time to make sure we get this right.”