Last week, our social media feeds were slammed with comments from less than satisfied Instagram users feeling concerned that the platform that was once ideal for sharing photos with friends and family is quickly turning into a TikTok duplicate.
Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, responded to the backlash with a video stating that the changes that Instagram implements are always planned with the best intentions for those loyal to the platform. When feedback to this video continued to back the fact that users don’t want a TikTok twin, Mosseri swiftly backtracked, stating that he wants to “continue supporting photos”.
It comes as no surprise that following the success of TikTok, Instagram would want to try and mirror this – especially as the TikTok app is the first app not owned by Meta to reach over three billion worldwide downloads. Despite this, Mosseri realises that comments from users cannot be ignored.
A spokesperson from Instagram spoke to BBC News saying: “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.”
For those of you who had concerns about photo posts being completely phased out from Instagram, the future could now be looking brighter for casual users and content creators who do not see video content creation as part of their plans, at least for the near future.
