It really baffles the mind how time and time again business leaders as tech companies refuse to acknowledge mass feedback from their user base and go against their wishes with hopes to capture a non existent market share (Netflix, Blockbuster, Nokia, Snapchat and now Instagram.
Some of these people went to the best schools and have stellar experience but make decisions like they are actively trying to kill the app.
With instagrams new update they are basically making it resemble Tik Tok and moving away from the picture based format that makes everyone love them and focusing on video reels. This came with considerable backlash and they have refused to acknowledge any of and are going forward with it any way. Anyone with a brain should see that there is no way to topple tik tok, it has been designated as the go to short video platform, with Youtube having longer videos and instagram having pictures.
Snapchat used to be one of the most active social media apps till they redesigned it in 2017 again to similar backlash and threats to leave the app and now their earnings have fell by 77%.
I see instagram going down this path and I wonder why these types of decisions seem to come from tech companies ever so often till their company fails.
I understand the frustration but I think you can understand where their coming from. e.g. there was a time when people thought Instagram stories were just a cheap rip-off on Snapchat. I imagine if you’re Instagram then it‘s probably better to take the backlash on Reels rather than do nothing and eventually be left in the dust by TikTok. Just my 2 cents
I don’t really use Instagram but I think it’s better to have a feature people don’t use than to NOT have a feature people need
Most people still post pictures, so not sure what your issue is here
There's a difference between what users want and what's good for the business. My guess is that there's strong evidence that reels-type content is much better for time with eyes-on-screen and in turn time with eyes-on-ads
Instagram still has pictures and is where many people go to post photos for their extended friend group to see, but once you've gone through the new updates from your follows (which are still prioritized on the homepage AFAIK) there's little reason to stay on the app. The reels-based content provides a sort of brain-off stream that keeps people on the app
I don't think they need to beat TikTok for this to be a viable part of their strategy
With standard pictures, engagement drops off more quickly than before. You hop into your lunch break, fire up Insta and look at a few cute blondes (or cats, or cars, or whatever) and get over it more quickly than a few years ago. Short videos are more engaging and are preparing the digital consumer for tomorrow's products, i.e. web3, and more content that is non-static.
You wouldn't pay for digital gifts for looking at a picture, but if your fave influencer ask you during a video, there are suddenly more people willing to shell out a micro-payment for a digital gift or a "super like/thanks". This is the leverage the creators and platforms need to make money and it is an actual use case for digital money as well as NFTs.
Nobody will shell out hundreds of dollars for Oculus et al if all they know is looking at static pictures. How boring would that be? It is more addictive to not only look at a person, but also listen to their voice, see their friends, their pets, or what they are doing in what environment. It is more immersive and it fakes the feeling that we are part of their lives.
Even YouTube is pushing hard on their "Shorts" for that exact reason. So does Snapchat.
Or: Imagine an OnlyFans where you can not only see her pictures, but can "spend a part of your day" with your favorite girl and her friends in a digital space. Fans who pay a certain sticker or micro-amount would be allowed to sit at their virtual table, speak to them, etc. I can imagine that this would be a real killer feature that could work.
(This would also work with athletes, singers, actors, etc)
Think about why are there so many streaming platforms suddenly - why is Plenty Of Fish suddenly so popular? Not because of their single moms, it is because there is lots of gaming streams, discussions, day in the lives, etc going on. Same for peeks and the rest.
In the very long run, even discussion boards like WSO have to innovate. Reddit & co have some leeway because of the unique content they present, but eventually there will be live AMAs, more video presentation, virtual f2f engagement and even live tutoring integrated in these.
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