Instagram has announced it is reversing some recent changes to the app following a significant user backlash, which saw celebrities including Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian criticise the platform. The photo and video sharing app had been accused of imitating TikTok at the expense of its core users, after a series of updates sparked anger this week.
On Thursday, Instagram said it was rolling back a test version of the app that featured a full-screen display for posts. It will also tone down changes to its algorithm that resulted in users' feeds being flooded with videos from accounts they do not follow. Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, acknowledged the misstep, stating: 'I'm glad we took a risk – if we're not failing every once in a while, we're not thinking big enough or bold enough. But we definitely need to take a big step back and regroup.'
The backlash reached a peak on Monday when Jenner, the app's third most followed user with 361 million followers, and Kardashian, the seventh biggest with 326 million, shared a meme demanding 'Make Instagram Instagram Again'. The meme added: 'stop trying to be tiktok i just want to see cute photos of my friends.' Other users complained that their feeds had been overwhelmed with unwanted video recommendations, a sentiment echoed by comedian Trevor Noah, who said: 'Everything is an ad, and your feed is full of people you don't follow.'
Mosseri had earlier posted a video on Tuesday stating that 'more and more of Instagram is going to become video over time', but by Thursday he conceded the platform had gone too far. He told tech newsletter Platformer: 'For the new feed designs, people are frustrated and the usage data isn't great. So there I think that we need to take a big step back, regroup, and figure out how we want to move forward.' He also said Instagram would reduce the number of recommended posts, emphasising that users should be 'delighted' by content from accounts they do not follow.
Despite the rollback, Instagram confirmed that all videos posted on the platform will permanently become 'Reels', its TikTok-style feature. Parent company Meta, owned by Mark Zuckerberg, reported a 30% increase in time spent on Reels for the April-June quarter, but also posted its first year-on-year decline in quarterly revenue, which it attributed to macroeconomic conditions.
