Remember last year, when everyone was all ticked off at Instagram for shifting its focus to video, and they all wanted to just “Make Instagram Instagram again“?
The mad dash to adopt Reels happened, and everyone started wondering what the best way to use it for their business was because Reels were reportedly getting more visibility than plain old photos thanks to the platform’s algorithm, and then it all got to be a lot and we all just spent our time watching TikTok videos and posting our daily BeReal shots instead.
Or was that just me?
In any case, critics of Instagram’s Reels pushing might be thrilled to hear its CEO Adam Mosseri admit that the platform has gone too hard on the video agenda—and photos will once again come into focus for 2023.
Phew.
“I think we were overfocused on video in 2022 and pushed ranking too far, and basically showed too many videos and not enough photos,” said Mosseri in the Q&A series conducted weekly in his Stories. “We’ve since balanced, so things like how often someone likes photos versus videos, and how often someone comments on photos versus videos, are roughly equal, which is a good sign that things are balanced.”
While this comes as welcome news for jewelers, business owners, and individuals who prefer to showcase photos over videos, don’t sleep on the latter—videos remain an important element to an online presence and help bring to life content in a way that photos just can’t. Plus, with all the latest news on TikTok being banned across campuses, government devices, and who knows where next, Instagram may be the platform your favorite TikTok creators return to should the platform go belly-up.
Perhaps Mosseri’s use of balanced is the right word for this instance: Users should also find a balance between the type of content they put out there to maximize potential new followers and customers as the platform continues to figure out whether it wants to be the next new thing or just learn to love itself.
Photo: Getty Images
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