Adam Mosseri Says, “Make It So” for Instagram’s Future
The past week has been rough for Instagram. After implementing new app features and layouts, public backlash - which included criticism from Khloe Kardashian sharing a now viral graphic and petition from photographer @illumitati - has forced the platform to listen to its users and backpedal on some of the updates. It shouldn’t take a Kardashian or any other high-profile celebrity to get a response or transparency from the platforms we use every day.
“That said, I need to be honest - I do believe that more and more of Instagram is going to become video over time.”
Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri explains in a video posted to his social accounts that short form video is the way of the future and that the engagement stats will show that executives were right in making this move to push Reels and recommended posts to users.
But are they right?
Instagram (Meta, honestly) is notorious for the “if you can’t beat ‘em (or buy them), join ‘em” mentality and then forcing its new features on users in a way that squashes the reach of previous features or post types leaving users scrambling to acclimate quickly or languish. We’re seeing this now with a push for Reels the same way the platform pushed Stories on users back in 2017. So users are either forced to adapt to the whims of the platform’s execs or left to stagnate with “outdated” social marketing strategies and content.
“The growth of video we have seen long predates us leaning more into recommendations and unconnected content.”
What Instagram execs are left with, I feel, is inflated engagement metrics and a self-fulfilling prophecy. They’ve turned the platform’s features into an echo chamber for their own biases toward what content they want users to consume. What they feel was a successful launch or adaptation of the feature is just content creators and businesses trying to get their content seen by their audience. If you’re a one-woman marketing show like myself, trying to find the time to plan typical photo content as well as plan, film, and edit video content is close to impossible, especially when your niche lies in static imagery.
Mosseri goes on to explain in his address that Instagram will (obviously) continue to support photos and then expands on the recommended posts that users are now seeing. He mentions that Instagram wants to help small creators reach new audiences, but I don’t think I’ve seen a single photo on my feed as a suggested post. All recommendations have been for reels. It’s hard to help creators reach new audiences if you aren’t pushing diverse content, Adam.
By the end of 2023, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expects users’ feeds to be approximately 30% recommended posts from accounts they don’t already follow, nearly double what it is currently.
I get that content is constantly evolving. It’s the nature of the space and video is king. If there were a way to track the hours I’ve spent on TikTok since I downloaded it last January, you’d see I enjoy my fair share of short form video content. But Instagram is trying desperately to be something it’s not and its users are getting tired. They want to see content from the accounts they’ve followed and not have to sift through 20 ads and 10 suggested posts to get to them.
Instagram has a long way to go before they can attempt to dethrone TikTok as one of the top video platforms and rather than try to set themselves apart from competitors, they’re trying to copy them as quickly as possible. And failing.
Maybe once Instagram gets their algorithm fine-tuned to users’ interests and preferences and they thoroughly test new features before launching them to select accounts (I’m looking at you, initial Reels UI) we’ll see a positive change. Given the shaky rollout of Reels and now suggested posts, I think it’s unlikely we’ll see that happen anytime soon.
Additionally, I suggest reading the full interview with Mosseri on Platformer if you haven’t already, he offers further insight and clarity on the decisions that were made and also addresses misconceptions surrounding the updates. It’s a cleaner departure from his parental tone in the video he had self-published at first.
Ultimately, I guess the future is video if you make it so.
Kiersten “KP” Pavoncello
KP is a Digital Marketing Coordinator from York, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Southern New Hampshire in 2022 with high honors and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. When she’s not knee-deep in social strategy KP is usually playing her favorite video games and spending time with her husband, son, and two cats.