Instagram has recently come under fire for allegedly favoring video content over the still image sharing module upon which the platform was founded. The argument has already been made that this could be due to how the average user has shifted focus to sharing videos. However, the CEO of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, recently stated that he believes the platform will rely even more heavily on videos in the future.
‘I need to be honest, I do believe that more and more of Instagram is going to become video over time.’
This statement was a direct response to the Instagram community’s growing concerns that the platform is actively favoring videos over photos. Mosseri has, however, stated that even if the company makes no deliberate changes to the service it provides, videos are bound to naturally increase in popularity as people continue to shift toward making videos instead of uploading images to the platform.
Simultaneously, Mosseri assured the community that Instagram would remain a home for the photo-sharing upon which the platform was founded. ‘I want to be clear, we’re going to continue to support photos, it’s a part of our heritage. You know I love photos and I know a lot of you out there love photos, too.’
This is all in the wake of Instagram’s announcement that the service will now automatically turn any video less than 15 minutes in length into a Reel, letting the content that users share be seen by more than just their followers.
We’ve seen a remarkable increase in Tiktok-esque features across Meta’s other IP. Since the rise of the Chinese short video sharing platform, Facebook has introduced its own short video sharing feature, and Instagram has introduced Reels. Even WhatsApp now has a similar feature.
Mosseri took the opportunity to highlight other features coming to Instagram soon, including a full-screen display. ‘ It’s a test to a few percentage of people out there. The idea is that a more full-screen experience, not only for videos but also for photos, might be a more fun and engaging experience.
But I also want to be clear, it’s not yet good, and we’re going to have to get it to a good place if we’re going to ship it to the rest of the Instagram community.’
In other Instagram news, Mark Zuckerberg recently announced a feature that could see Instagram gunning for Google Maps.
