Sorry to all the girlies choking on Reels being shoved down our throats: Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri has finally explained the app’s new update, and he’s not sorry about the backlash.
ICYMI, Instagram’s app has seen quite a few changes to its interface in recent weeks including the introduction of a full-screen TikTok-esque feed and the prioritising of videos over photos. To put it simply, the update is shit and backlash has been intense. There’s actually a viral petition to “Make Instagram Instagram Again” — which has more than 172,000 signatures in the two days it’s been live.
Mosseri has since taken to Twitter to “address” the changes, admitting in his weird YouTube apology-esque video that the new full-screen look is clunky AF.
posting this to twitter is funny to me. what, did your non-chronological timeline make it hard for instagram users to see your content? https://t.co/OMAF75rDjb
— my little pony soprano (@boxofhamsters) July 26, 2022
“It’s a test to a few percentage of people out there,” he said.
“The idea is that a more-full screen experience — not only for videos but for photos — might be a more fun and engaging experience.
“But I also want to be clear: it’s not yet good. And we’re going to have to get it to a place if we’re going to ship it to the rest of the Instagram community.”
Hmm. If it’s a test and people hate it, shouldn’t you just… learn from the user response and adjust the app accordingly? Instead of barreling along with a forced change no one wants?
Mosseri then went on to address the other main complaint users have: the app’s prioritisation of Reels over our friend’s photo dumps.
“Now I want to be clear: we’re going to continue to support photos — it’s part of our heritage,” he said patronisingly.
“That said, I need to be honest — I do believe that more and more of Instagram is going to become video overtime. We see this even if we change nothing. We see this even if you just look at chronological feed.”
instagram started forcing us to watch reels we didn’t ask for from people we don’t follow and then has the nerve to say “we’re prioritizing reels because that’s what people are watching!” mf YOU FORCE US TO
— matt (@mattxiv) July 26, 2022
“If you look at what people like and consume and view on Instagram, that’s also shifting more and more to video over time, even when we stop changing anything,” he continued.
“So we’re going to have to lean into that shift while continuing to support photos.”
Ummmm, I’m pretty sure Reels performing better on Instagram probably has more to do with the app prioritising them than it does with people actually enjoying them. I don’t know about you, but my feed’s Reels are just… the same five memes repeatedly shared from different accounts. It is like a nightmarish Ground Hog Day.
That said, if you want to make sure to never miss anything from a friend, or from any account for that matter, add that account to your Favorites and we will show their feed posts at the top of Feed.
— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) July 26, 2022
Anyway, Mosseri’s defence of Instagram doesn’t stop there. He also admitted the app’s new recommendations feature is also shit.
If you see stuff recommended to your feed which you don’t like, Mosseri said “that means we’re doing a bad job ranking and we need to improve”.
His solution? Just “X out” and “snooze” recommendations if you don’t want them, or use your “Following feed”. He also said those upset about not seeing their friends’ content should just use the “Favourites” feature instead. Which is great and all unless you’re like me — my account doesn’t have that feature yet.
So yeah, Instagram is not removing its annoying recommendations or unwanted Reels.
Instagram is trying so hard to compete with TikTok that they’re trying to become another TikTok. 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!!!
— TONI TONE (@t0nit0ne) July 24, 2022
Mosseri said the recommendations feature is Instagram’s attempt at doing what’s “best” for small creators to help them reach new audiences. Funny because how many of the recommendations you receive on Instagram are actually from small creators?
Mosseri maintained that the app will focus on “evolving”, but it will priorities your friends’ posts on your feed “where possible” (??).
“We’re also going to need to evolve, because the world is changing quickly and we’re going to have to change along with it,” he said.
Honestly, the world changing quickly is probably part of the reason people want Instagram to stay true to its roots.
During a time of constantly shifting micro-trends and companies trying to convince us things are “outdated” to maintain profits for their latest products, it makes sense that Instagram’s audience want this one fucking thing to just stay the way it is. No app-shattering Instagram update, please.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? But alas, Instagram is hellbent on remaining in its villain era.
