Instagram used to be an aesthetic Eden in which to see friends, family and people you admire enjoy their best version, no matter how much they it was calculatedly edited and premeditated. It was a social network in which to enjoy an improved reality not exempt, of course, from the pressure to achieve perfection that, although it was as fictitious as it was unattainable, pushed us to try to achieve it or even to envy it (sometimes damaging our self-esteem), something that we did not care too much then… However, now we frown when we see the seventh photo of the day of an instagramer posing on a yacht or an influencer concatenating different advertising actions in their stories with an absolute lack of transparency and normality. Yes: before we also enjoyed that plot of “intimacy” that celebrities allowed us to visit, but the pandemic came and we got bored of seeing baked bread recipes…
The perfection imposed on Instagram seemed inadequate to us at a time when our home and the videos of celebrities lamenting the confinement in their mansions did not work as an adequate escapist window, and it was at that moment that TikTok dances they did know how to function as allies, and the proof of this is that the social network reached one billion global users. Some time later, the (unbearable) change in the algorithm, the prioritization of the reels and the transformation of the wall into a buffet free of suggestions in which only those profiles that you follow or are interested in appear have made Instagram on the tightrope…” What in its day began as a photography social network where filters and frames could be added, has become an ecosystem of applications where we can create our own content without the need for other tools. The algorithm has stopped rewarding the “here and now” to reward more elaborate content that seeks to entertain or amuse the user. If we take into account that the name of Instagram comes from Insta (instant) and gram (telegram), we can say that there is very little left of the original social network”, explains Sergio Magán, Instagram expert.
But then… What, if any, is the future of Instagram?
“He has two. In the short term, one of them is to become the second most used social network. The second is an uncertain one, but with a more positive than negative part. Let us not forget that it was said that Facebook it was destined for abandonment… But it’s still there! Mark Zuckerberg he has perpetuated it, because he is his son, and what he has done is bring it all together. I understand that Instagram will have creative people who will make it shine again. It’s turning it into a pretty TikTok-like version, and that’s how it becomes its competition, when it was the other way around before. Everything is adapting to its model”, he explains. the digital creator Pedro Rojas.
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For your part Sergio Magán, Instagram expert, Share your opinion with us. “In September 2018 when Kevis Systrom and Mike Krieger left Instagram, and one of the reasons -never confirmed by them- was the change of direction that Facebook (now Meta) was submitting to the social network. They had just launched the IG TV feature and along with stories, they were contemplating the possibility of giving more importance to more dynamic, although ephemeral, content than to the photos uploaded in the feed. It was something that its founders did not like. With the appearance of TikTok, everything rushes and they quickly have to fight back with reels. Instagram’s strategy changes completely and Instagram ceases to be a photography social network to become a content creation platform. For some time now, this change has been accentuated and really the users/companies/brands that wish to optimize their presence on Instagram will have to adapt to this new reality by modifying the way they use the platform, giving greater importance to their content by sharing it in stories. and above all, reels. This change in strategy affects brands, which will have to invest more time when creating content, seeking with this content not only to inspire (as the photos on the wall did), but also to entertain and amuse”, he warns.
Pedro Rojas believes that if Instagram gets its act together and is more lax with the algorithm, it will be able to recover part of the love of its users. “TikTok is winning because people like public approval, and its algorithm is making content creators feel good. Meanwhile, those who don’t make content are entertaining themselves with the content they appreciate. However, Instagram is stagnant, but this is not a failure, but a stagnation. The point is that most people on Instagram will not be able to mutate into what TikTok is, because they need to have a specific skill which by the way, they have to know how to explain, and they also have to have some notion about how they have to appear in the videos. In addition, on Instagram you meet many “selfie people” who you do hear talking… In short, people have to know how to explain their ability and have to know how to put themselves in front of a camera for this change, but Instagram is not prepared for that , because whoever is successful there is not necessarily successful on TikTok, something that does happen on the contrary, and that is what scares Instagram…”, he says.
“Instagram influencers They are going to have to spend much more time creating their valuable content, which is content that informs, entertains or amuses. They are going to have to focus on the reels and use trending musicthey are going to have to give a unique touch to their content to be able to differentiate themselves from other influencers and above all, segment and target a niche: humor, fashion, advice… In short, create a strategy and follow it clearly defining what the objectives are. and public”, comments Magán.
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If there is an Instagram lover in the room, don’t throw in the towel, because despite what was mentioned above, Sergio Magán emphasizes how the social network has always been characterized by copying the best of its competition and implementing it successfully. He talks about the way he took note of how Vine could share videos, and not just photos, he implemented Instagram stories by following the wake of snapchat and now it is approaching TikTok through the reels. “At the moment TikTok has held up very well and has not lost face in its fight with Instagram, pBut there are still many brands and companies that do not see it as a channel to reach their potential customers. Therefore, as long as companies and brands invest in advertising on Instagram, this has a guaranteed future. We must not forget that every company has a common goal, which is to generate economic benefits, and for that advertisers are needed… And Instagram continues to have them, ”he explains.
It was Jared Brock, an expert in social networks, who long ago said the words that paralyzed the networks. “Instagram is dead, but you don’t know it.” He then assured that currently, it is simply “a platform to take ‘selfies’ and present a perfect (and some would say distorted) reality”… The question now is whether we are willing to put up with that made-up reality when our ‘feed ‘ turns out to be an amalgamation of accounts that we don’t follow, meaningless suggestions and photos of gin and tonics on the beach or if we prefer a more entertaining, relaxed and on many occasions, enriching content.
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