Instagram CEO responds to Kardashians’ backlash against new TikTok-like changes

Instagram has new changes and the users weren’t happy. The head and CEO of Instagram Adam Mosseri was pushed to explain these recent updates on the platform. Following huge celebrity and influencers Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian slamming the app for “trying to be TikTok”, Mosseri shared his video on Twitter.

Mosseri said, “I need to be honest, I do believe more and more of Instagram is going to become videos. ”The negative reactions from users drove Mosseri to post a response explaining the recent changes. 

He added, “I’m hearing a lot of concerns about right now about photos and how we’re shifting to video. Now, I want to be clear, we’re gonna 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. We see this even if we do nothing. So we’re gonna have to lean into that shift. Adding that the new full-screen feed version of IG is just a test and it’s not yet good.”

stop making everything reels. You're making everyone from journalists, content creators, CEOs, and celebrities agree. It's now an app for everything you're advertising, not of my friends and people I think are cool.

— Stefan Etienne (@StefanEtienne) July 26, 2022

Similar to the changes on Facebook, the CEO of META, Mark Zuckerberg is obviously aiming for one thing. He has been leaning more into short videos. Which as we all know is a familiar scene on TikTok. It’s also the main reason why the social media platform is dominating the mobile world.

Instagram updates

Instagram now seems a distant memory with its obsession to fill its feeds with more videos on full screen. An app that was popular before for viewing photos of friends has now gone in a different direction. Aside from the app’s interface changing to a full-screen video, most of the feeds are from unfamiliar users you don’t even follow. Also, you’ll notice the abundance of ads as you scroll.

Despite Mosser’s attempt to calm down the Instagram users, it’s still inevitable for another batch of backlash from the users. More are noting how not everyone likes to create video content. Moreover, some say that the shift is setting aside the talents of photographers, illustrators, visual artists, and graphic designers that use Instagram to display their work.

Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri responds to users asking for their feed to comprise of friend content again:

“all the growth in photos and videos from friends has been in stories and in DMs… the best way to keep up with friends seems to be with the other parts of Instagram,” pic.twitter.com/3iRqBDFgP4

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) July 26, 2022

One user posted, “Stop making everything reels. You’re making everyone from journalists, content creators, CEOs, and celebrities agree. It’s now an app for everything you’re advertising, not my friends and people I think are cool.”

Furthermore, Mosseri acknowledged that Instagram might be doing a “bad job.” He is pointing out the recommendations of Reels that users should watch. Mosseri advised that people could “snooze” recommendations for a month if they don’t like them. 

Mosseri said, “But we’re going to continue to try and get better at recommendations because we think it’s one of the most effective and important ways to help creators reach more people.”

“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.”

Mosseri, together with Facebook and Instagram is facing a new challenge. While every social media is trying to be TikTok, not every user is content with how TikTok works. We get it that it’s new, fresh in the eyes, and popular, but TikTok also has a lot of downsides.