What’s in this article:
- Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, announced that Instagram is no longer just a photo-sharing app and upcoming changes to the platform
- Although it needs to give consumers what they want, how close will it become to its competitive social media platforms remains to be seen
There’s no complacency in social platforms. It’s a constant battle to keep from sliding down and yielding everything up to rivals. Instagram’s approach is to see what people are using and copying that.
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Last year, Instagram tried to recapture some of the popularity stolen by its rival by offering its version of TikTok videos called Reels. This year, it plans to change to be even more TikTok-like, as indicated by the announcement its head, Adam Mosser, made in a video posted to Twitter on June 30.
“We’re no longer a photo-sharing app or a square photo-sharing app,” he said, explaining that the platform will be shifting to “embrace video more broadly – full screen, immersive, entertaining, mobile-first video.”
Those full-screen videos should start appearing in user feeds in the next few months. Instagram makes no secret of the fact that it’s taking cues from its competition.
“Let’s be honest,” Mosseri said, “There’s some really serious competition right now.” He noted, “TikTok is huge, YouTube is even bigger, and there’s lots of other upstarts as well.”
As a result of the expectations shaped by these other video platforms, Instagram users have come to expect a more entertaining experience. It’s adapt or die.
As Mosseri put it: “We have to embrace” the shift in expectation, “and that means change.”