| Table of Contents |
| 1. Instagrammers reject TikTok's features - the phenomenon of Make Instagram Instagram Again |
| 2. Meta forced to react. Does the suspension of changes resolve the dispute? |
| 3. Can't you beat your rival? Copy it! How the competition clones TikTok. |
What does Make Instagram Instagram Again mean? In this text, let's discuss the new movement against Instagram's "tiktokation", and analyze the impact of the Chinese platform on the existing social media tycoons.
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We click the Instagram icon, go through photos of friends ... and suddenly we realize that for several minutes we have been subconsciously scrolling clips on TikTok. A supernatural phenomenon? No, we just fell into the TikTok-mimicking Instagram Reels loop again. We saw a few good videos, but at the end we ask ourselves a fundamental question - is this really what we came here for?
A similar idea began to circulate among millions of social media users at the same time, becoming the beginning of mobilizing Instagramers against copying TikTok solutions.
The cause of the controversy was the latest Instagram changes. Previously, Reels was a replacement for TikTok. Much to the annoyance of users, the main feed has almost become a clone of a Chinese application due to the recent update. In addition to the visual aspect, the mechanism of selecting content has changed significantly - instead of a network of friends, the determining factor has become the recommendations made by the algorithm.
The opposition was triggered by an inconspicuous post published on July 23 by Instagramer Illumitati.
"Make Instagram Instagram again". Stop trying to be TikTok I just want to see cute photos of my friends. Sincerely, everyone.”
Tatiana Bruening/Ilumitati - 23.07.2022
Simple, black and white graphics on the profile of 21-year-old Tatiana Bruening gathered over 2 million users in a few days who liked original post . Popular stars joined the campaign against controversial changes, including Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner .
Creators and social media entrepreneurs also took the floor. They organized a (fully analogue) demonstration in front of Meta headquaters. Protesters raised slogans against algorithm changes leading to reach privilage for videoclips, and objected to overly restrictive content regulation rules
The growing scale of criticism prompted the personal intervention of the president of Instagram himself, Adam Mosseri. On the recording, Mosseri assured that the controversial changes were application tests, affecting only a small percentage of users.
The Meta representative humbly states that since the new solutions cause such a large negative resonance, they apparently did not do their job well. In a conciliatory tone, however, the platform's inevitable course towards video forms resounds, which, according to Mosseri, is much more engaging content. from traditional photos.
Currently, the wave of public action seems to be subsiding, so Mark Zuckerberg's enterprise may therefore consider the fire partially extinguished. Does the temporary suspension of Instagram's "tiktokation" solve the problem of a clash between business calculation and consumer habits?
This is a rhetorical question. While it is possible to imagine the twilight of TikTok itself as a company (ex. as a result of international sanctions), the form it created has for several years turned out to be the best diagnosis of the communication needs of the young generation.
While Facebook, Instagram and YouTube still have an advantage over the new competitor in terms of the number of users, the dynamics of growth leaves no doubt. TikTok has turned out to be a breakthrough in the social media market, regularly ranking at the top since 2019 most downloaded applications.
Both Google (Youtube) and Meta (Facebook, Instagram) are increasingly introducing functions borrowed from the TikTok format to their flagship services.
Short video clips combined with music and filters, recommendations based on an algorithm, minimal user interface reduced to content slot machine. If paper encyclopedias were still printed, we could ascribe the above description to the entire army of clones of the Chinese application.
The previously discussed Instagram Reels are now being transferred to the Facebook interface. According to Zuck's announcement, Reels will soon become the primary environment for a visibly stagnant platform.
Youtube response is also in full swing. Over the past decade, the hegemon of video portals has systematically promoted lengthy content that contradicts the philosophy behind the Great Wall. One of the best-known Youtube indirect means is the famous 10-minute video-length threshold, above which advertising revenue increases by leaps and bounds.
The effect was predictable and is evident to any attentive YouTube analyst. Many creators are using the most "sophisticated" methods to artificially extend their clip and "pull" it to the threshold of lucrative monetization. Needless to say, in many cases this happens at the expense of the content quality.
The appearance of TikTok forced the Google giant to go back to its roots and reconcile with short forms. Youtube Shorts is a special interface for creations with vertical orientation, lasting up to 60 seconds. Of course, also here the gesture of moving your finger up results in the algorithm presenting the next recommended content. As can be seen in the picture above, the similarity of the application to the original does not translate into a similar scale of popularity of the comparative material.
Until the next breakthrough pushes short videos to the past, the next players in the digital market will try to draw on a monetization source created in China. Regardless of our private views on TikTok, we must acknowledge that its form and culture will remain with us for a long time.
It is likely that social outbursts like "Make Instagram Instagram Again" will go down in the history of the Internet like the 19th century Luddites - full of ideals, but doomed to fail in fight for retaining the good old ways.
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