Instagram Responds To Global Uproar Started By Kardashians

Popular photo-sharing platform, Instagram, has responded to the global backlash generated over its transformational updates to major on video content.

The app, under Meta which already owns Facebook and WhatsApp, has been going through a series of changes since its launch in 2010. However, its recent update has led to global users ranging up to celebrities accusing the app of "trying to be TikTok."

The company has been moving towards popularising short videos, a market that TikTok had already established its dominance since the COVID-19 pandemic more than two years ago.

A person using TikTok. /MONEY254

Another update has been its suggested posts over ‘friends’ content on its Feed, a move many users claimed was part of a failed TikTok-Pinterest mixture.

US socialite Kim Kardashian and her sister Kylie Jenner, the two most followed women on Instagram (326 million and 361 million respectively), led content creators on Tuesday, July 26 in compelling the platform to "make Instagram Instagram again".

Kylie most notably forced Snapchat's stock to plummet by Ksh154.4 billion (US$1 billion) in a day after she confessed to not opening the app following its controversial redesign.

In addition, a petition post (now viral) urging the company to "make Instagram Instagram again," implying it should focus more on pictures friends post, has amassed over 1.6 million likes and resulted in nearly 140,000 petition signatures. 

Instagram head Adam Mosseri explained in a video statement of his own that he acknowledged a lot of changes on Instagram but assured that the app will continue to support photos as it is part of its heritage.

“If you’re seeing a new full-screen version of the feed know that it is a test. It is at least to a few per cent of the people out there and the idea is that a more full-screen experience, not only for video but for photos, might be a more fun and engaging experience.

“I want to be clear: We’re going to continue to support photos. It’s part of our heritage. That said, I need to be honest: I do believe that more and more of Instagram is going to become video over time,” he said.

Mosseri noted that some of the new updates such as the full-screen mode, recommendations and visibility of friends' posts will be subject to further improvement. He believed that it will be more video-focused over time since it is what people are liking, sharing and consuming on the platform.