If like Kim Kardashian as well as Kylie Jenneryou are not a fan of the new image Instagram a channel that places more value on short videos, known as Reels, from people you don’t subscribe to, then you’ll be disappointed to know things are about to get worse.
Mark ZuckerbergThe chief executive of Meta, which owns Instagram, announced that the company plans to “more than double” the amount of “recommended” content that appears in users’ feeds by the end of next year.
During an investor call on Wednesday, Zuckerberg revealed that about 15% of the content shown to an Instagram user on their feed is currently recommended by his algorithm.
By the end of 2023, that number should increase to over 30% by the end of 2023, meaning you’ll see even more messages from people and accounts you don’t know, according to Zuckerberg.
The move is likely to be unpopular after the rollout of an increasingly video-centric channel has led some users to accuse the app of “trying to be like TikTok.”
It appears that Instagram (pictured left) has taken note of the successful TikTok format (pictured right) and is copying its vertical feed as part of a “new immersive browsing experience.”
Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner lead the “Make Instagram Instagram Again” movement. The couple expressed their disgust at the app’s new TikTok-like redesign.
In May, Instagram announced that it had begun testing a “new immersive browsing experience” in which photos and videos presented vertically in the main feed.
“We are moving Instagram to where video is becoming a larger part of the home experience,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri said at the time.
“Where the content is more immersive – it takes up more of the screen – where most of the feed is recommendations, things we think you might like but may not have heard of yet, and where you have more control over the experience “.
The test is slowly expanding, and more and more users are starting to see the new-style feed when they update their apps.
However, earlier this week Kylie Jenner, the most followed woman on Instagram, and her older sister Kim Kardashian hit back by posting a story calling for company “Make Instagram Instagram Again”‘.
The story suggests that the sisters would rather see Instagram return to its roots by focusing on photo-sharing rather than video.
“Stop trying to be a tiktok, I just want to see cute pictures of my friends,” the post read.
Mosseri is pictured with Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta. Meta now owns Instagram
Mosseri admitted in a Twitter post on Tuesday that the changes to the app are “not very good yet” but insists they are necessary and will stay here.
“I want to be clear: we will continue to support the photos,” he said.
“However, I have to be honest, I believe more and more Instagram will become video over time.”
Mosseri said this shift is happening in response to user behavior.
“We need to build on this shift by continuing to support photography,” he added.
However, critics have bombarded the Instagram executive with requests to stop promoting the video and return Instagram to its simple origins with pictures.
Chrissy Teigen simply replied, “We don’t want to make a video Adam lol.”
In terms of recommendations, Mosseri said it was “an effective and important way to help writers reach more people.”
“Creators are very important to the future of Instagram and we want to make sure they are successful and get all the recognition they deserve,” he said.
However, users claim that they are fed up with strangers’ posts being forced on them and that they only want to see their contacts.
Musician and actor Simon Curtis said, “Now it’s like Facebook – an ugly, Frankenstein monster, an app where older people come to get ads, get scammed and get confused.”
Interior designer and HGTV star Laurie March commented, “I wish there was a place for us to just use Instagram the way we want instead of having so many offers forced on us.
“Show us the pictures! Not videos if I don’t want them. And why are you hiding our friends because of *discovery*? More is not always more. The growth mindset destroys things.”
Author Roxanne Gay tweeted: “Now this sucks. Stop trying to be TikTok. I don’t want to make a video.”
And journalist Sali Hughes said, “What’s the point of following people if you’re constantly being force-fed accounts you don’t follow at the expense of the ones you follow? And the tools to stop it just don’t work. Now it’s a video dump.
The launch of the vertical feed comes after Instagram urged its users to stop posting TikTok videos on its Reels short video platform earlier this year.
The company said it wants to focus on original content, giving creators the tools they need to post directly to Reels and “ensure credit goes to those who deserve it.”
Initially, Instagram announced plans to downgrade watermarked clips from other video platforms such as TikTok in February 2021.
“We’re not the only platform doing this, and we’re doing it to make our recommendations as convenient as possible for our community,” a Meta spokesperson told DailyMail.com at the time.
The news comes after Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, reported its first-ever revenue decline on Thursday, driven by falling ad spending due to a disruption in the economy and increased competition from rival TikTok.
HOW DID FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM COPY SNAPCHAT OVER THE YEARS?
March 2016 – Filters
One of the first signs that Facebook was copying Snapchat was in March 2016 when it bought MSQRD, an app that puts silly live filters on your selfies.
The app allows users to apply filters to their faces similar to Snapchat’s “Lens” filters.
One of the first signs that Facebook was copying Snapchat was in March 2016 when it bought MSQRD, an app that puts silly live filters on your selfies. The app allows users to apply filters to their faces (pictured right) — similar to Snapchat’s “Lens” filters (pictured left).
April 2016 – QR codes
Last April, Facebook added QR codes to profiles in Messenger.
Snapchat uses QR codes so people can add other users without having to search.
December 2016 – Location based filters and in-app camera
Facebook has introduced custom location-based camera filters that overlay images and videos — similar to Snapchat’s “geo filters”.
Users create “frames” on any design platform, post them to Facebook, and then friends nearby can access the creations.
In the same month, “Messenger Camera” was developed, allowing you to quickly capture and share photos and videos without being distracted from the conversation – a feature that already existed in Snapchat.
In December, Facebook introduced custom location-based camera filters (pictured right) that overlay images and videos — similar to Snapchat’s “geo-filters” (pictured left).
March 2017 – Stories
In March, Facebook introduced Facebook Stories along with two other new Snapchat-like features, Facebook Camera and Direct.
Facebook Stories highlights decorative content in a horizontal layout above the news feed that disappears after 24 hours – just like Snapchat Stories.
Facebook Stories (pictured right) highlights decorative content in a horizontal layout above the news feed that disappears after 24 hours – just like Snapchat Stories (pictured left)
The section in the app called “Direct” is very similar to the Snapchat feed for one-on-one group messaging.
The update encourages users to use the Facebook camera feature and also allows friends’ stories to be placed at the top of the news feed.
That same month, it also introduced Messenger Day, which allows users to share photos and videos with illustrated filters and stickers that disappear after 24 hours — just like Snapchat Stories.
November 2017 — “Stripes”
In November, Facebook copied Snapchat by testing a new feature that encourages friends to send messages back and forth for days on end.
Like “Snapstreaks” on Snapchat, “Streaks” on Facebook Messenger have an emoji next to the name of anyone with whom users regularly message.
According to Facebook, this will encourage users to “continue the streak”.
In March, Facebook introduced “Messenger Day,” which allows users to share photos and videos with illustrated filters and stickers that disappear after 24 hours – just like in Snapchat Stories.
January 2018 – Screenshots
In January, Instagram, the Facebook-owned app, began testing a feature that lets your followers know if you’ve secretly taken a screenshot of their story.
The Snapchat-inspired feature is expected to launch soon on the image-sharing platform and is currently being tested in Japan.
May 2018 – Bitmoji
As with filters, snaps, and stories, Facebook has shown to be duplicating the Bitmoji feature used by Snapchat.
Developers found unreleased functionality in the code for the Facebook Android app that allows users to “create personalized, illustrated versions of themselves to use as stickers in Messenger and comments.”
November 2021 – Rage Shake
Instagram copied Snapchat with the launch of a feature called “Rage Shake”.
Users just need to shake their phone with the Instagram app open and a small pop-up will appear that allows them to report an annoying technical issue.
This is very similar to Snapchat’s “Shake to Report” feature, which already allows users to shake their smartphone to report a bug.
