Instagram is no longer a photo-sharing app, company head Adam Mosseri said in a video posted on Instagram and Twitter. The company chief claims that the platform has transformed over the years and is no longer a square-photo sharing app as many of its users now watch videos for entertainment and do other researches.
Mosseri notes that to keep up with competition such as TikTok, which is “huge,” and YouTube that is even “bigger,” Instagram will experiment with new video upgrades in the “recommendation” space. It will essentially show videos from pages that users may not particularly find interesting, but they will have the option to choose their preferred topics.
The new recommendation space for videos is currently being tested with select users. The Facebook-owned social media platform will further aim to enhance Creator tools, shopping, and messaging experience to gain an edge over competitions.
Mosseri adds that Instagram aims to improve the user experience while watching videos. Users will soon have access to full-screen videos for a more immersive and “mobile-first” experience.
It appears the company is going all out against TikTok and YouTube Shorts with the upcoming changes. The exact details remain unclear as Instagram Reels, the TikTok competitor, can be viewed in full-screen mode.
Meanwhile, Instagram has been long rumoured to be working on shopping features to let users buy sponsored goods or Creators’ recommended/ endorsed products directly from the platform. The older version of Instagram carried a dedicated shop section under the explore feed, but the company is bringing options to tag products on IGTV and Reels.
Instagram is also testing a new feature that will show ‘Suggested Posts’ in-between content like photos, videos, and IGTV from accounts you follow. To recall, the Facebook-owned platform introduced Suggested Posts in August 2020 that essentially shows content (mainly images) from accounts that are not being followed by users. Until now, these posts pop up right after the “You’re All Caught Up” banner to pursue users to stay on the platform for as long as possible. The idea of Suggested Posts is also to show content users may like to see from non-followed accounts based on how they interact with others and pages.
