Facebook seemed immortal. Even privacy scandals could not happen with him. Eventually it could be other networks, and in particular one of its own: Instagram was better, and everyone seemed to be there. The post that was important in Facebook messages was no longer catchy on Instagram, where the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” is more real than ever.

He actually looked immortal on Instagram, too. The social network created an industry out of nothing and gave life to the influencer phenomenon. Everything looked great (more or less) and then TikTok came along and convinced more and more users with its short videos. Suddenly photos weren’t enough and short videos won the war. Everyone wants to be TikTok, including Instagram.

From stories to short videos

Zuckerberg has never wavered in adjusting to the new times. Replaced if needed. And if you need to copy, copied. The same principle has been applied to Instagram, and it has deflected the social network that boosted mobile photography (and selfies), leaving them in the background.

The evolution of Instagram has been singular: When Snapchat created the ‘Stories’ feature revealed a unique trend in his social network. The mini-videos and small montages that disappeared after 24 hours were victorious, and all social networks eventually copied the function.

So we saw Stories on Twitter (with Moments in 2015), but also YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook, Skype, and even LinkedIn. But of course, one of the first to arrive copy embracing this idea was Instagram, which didn’t want Snapchat. finally threatened him Really.

The format worked, but it wasn’t enough. All of a sudden TikTok has become the trendy social network. Different options should have been offered for posting short videos (and not so short with IGTV wanting to compete with YouTube). Get over the ‘Snapchat crisis’, they thought they could do the same thing they did on Facebook in that situation. To compete with TikTok they only needed to offer the same short videos that were successful out there, so they launched their Reels.

This was another drop that started to fill a very full glass. The move to algorithmic feeding in 2016 and the “Discovery” option, which places messages, photos, and videos from strangers before you follow them, finally changed the experience: You no longer follow just the person you want: Instagram has allowed you to follow many. People who had to post a certain number of Stories or Reels to remain (or aspire to be) impressive made the experience a real hit for many of these users.

As with Reels, this indiscriminate copying was “an example of everything wrong with Facebook,” as Inc. put it. And as TikTok continues, Instagram declares defeat. It was made a few days ago by the head of the social network, Adam Mosseri. spoke To tell you “how many things are going on on Instagram right now” after some news on Reels.

👋🏼 There’s a lot going on on Instagram these days.

I wanted to touch on 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) 26 July 2022

Mosseri explained how her new Instagram feed didn’t quite catch on and how. advice may not be enoughbut mostly he was talking about the role of photos and videos on Instagram.

“I have to be honest,” the company’s CEO said in a short video he also posted on Twitter. “I believe it Instagram will become more video sites over time. We see it without changing anything. […] If you look at what people are posting on Instagram, more videos are being shared each time.”

Mosseri is right: the world is switching to short videos —Even YouTube is trying to copy the idea with Shorts—. TikTok’s success resonates so much that Instagram users download videos from TikTok and then repost them on Instagram. The problem is that Instagram wasn’t built for that: people (mostly) went to Instagram to see the photos and it was adapted with patches that ended up betraying the original idea and turning it into a copy of TikTok.

The question, of course, is whether the strategy will work. Criticism of these announced changes is coupled with a clear message from the community:make Instagram Instagram again“. The campaign launched by content creator Illumitati was shared by mega celebrities of this social network, such as Kim Kardashian (326 million followers) or Kylie Jenner (360 million followers). A petition for signature was created on Change.org (already more than 180,000 followers). record) to request the same and return the chronological feed.

This latest Mosseri video was exactly the answer to these complaints, but in it it seemed clear that (short) video is the future of Instagram, and that just seems to mean something. HE TikTok won.

Image | solen feyissa