The New Instagram: Video Sharing Platform
Written by Trinity Duong
The Instagram application was launched on October 6th, 2010, and has since garnered 25,000 users each day. It has been downloaded countless times and has roughly one billion active users to date. It is one of the most popular social networks worldwide having branded itself as being a “social photo-sharing app”. It’s hard to imagine Instagram as anything but that even with the new features that have recently been added. While the shopping tool and reels button have been frowned upon by many users due to its controversy in sharing similarities with Facebook Marketplace and TikTok, the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri has announced that social media is no longer a photo-sharing app.
He posted a video to his Instagram and Twitter accounts explaining that the company is looking to expand into entertainment and video after understanding TikToks algorithm and its success with breaking into the social media industry and community. YouTube also continues its success when competing for viewers' attention.
Mosseri’s post quotes “Changes are coming to video on Instagram”. In a separate paragraph, he explains that Instagram is “always trying to build new features that help you get the most out of your experience.” He then lists the key areas that they will mainly focus on four main subjects.
1) Creators
Due to creators depending on Instagram to earn a living through their new monetization feature, social media has made it their first priority to help creators expand their reach. Because of the importance of influencing and the power, it can bring different companies and industries, by moving Instagram into that general direction he believes creators must be well looked after.
2) Video
The second priority for Instagram is videos and this is already a feature we can begin to see incorporating its way into the application through Reels and IGTV. When looking at the growth of other platforms it's not a coincidence that videos are what they have in common and the force that propels them towards success.
3) Shopping
Shopping will be the third area in which the app plans to lean towards. Because it can further help small to large businesses, online commerce has seen a big acceleration, and it’s something that Instagram will capitalize on.
4) Messaging
Mosseri says messaging had become the primary way people will connect with their friends online. Communication has greatly shifted towards direct messaging and it is a prime indicator of why Threads from Instagram were created. You can read more about Threads in “Threads From Instagram VS Messenger From Facebook”.
By “embracing video more broadly” Mosseri hopes to increase app screening time from their users. In experimenting with the algorithm inside the main feed he hopes Instagram can become a general entertainment app, however, he has not released details into how he plans to create this algorithm.
If you want to keep up to date with the Instagram features make sure to check out “New To Instagram Reels? This Is For You” and “The Latest Instagram Updates”.
