Jun 3, 22 | 9 min read
instagram is copying tiktok
Reading time: 8 minutes
If you're a marketer, you've probably been following the latest changes Instagram made to curb TikTok's growth. Apparently, their latest update was a bit more drastic .
After Instagram boss Adam Mosseri said the platform is "no longer a square photo-sharing app ," Instagram is officially changing the layout from full-screen vertical home feeds to fully prioritize videos .
This change will make photos, stories, and carousels no longer as intuitive. Basically, the copied and pasted feed from TikTok. Soon it will be very difficult to distinguish one from the other.
"Wait. Did I open Instagram or TikTok?"
The change is still in a testing period and list of taiwan consumer email some users were randomly selected to use the beta version of the new interface. I was one of those selected.
That's why I'm bringing you a closer look at what the future of Instagram will look like and, consequently, the content we produce and consume within the platform.
Get ready for a new (and not at all groundbreaking) era of short vertical videos... and nothing more.
Follow us on the Rock Content LinkedIn page
How is Instagram going to change?
As I said, I was one of the users chosen during this test period for a full-screen feed and what I can say is that the new layout just doesn't look natural .
With the new feed, posts will fill the entire screen (one at a time, regardless of size).
If you liked scrolling down and watching the post slowly appear on your screen... forget it. Just like we do on TikTok, instead of scrolling, Instagram users will swipe to jump from one post to another.
In fact, for reels, the new feed is actually really good. I've put an image below of how reels appear in the new Instagram design, along with a TikTok video for comparison:
New Instagram feed X current TikTok feed
They look more alike every day, don't they?
With the video content covering almost the entire screen, you get a better experience (and you're left with just the content without any spoilers for the next post when you scroll down).
But even for Reels, the new feed has its complications – it's much less intuitive for users to like a post, and even less so for commenting (comments, which previously appeared just below the post, are only visible if the user clicks to open them).
Today we know that likes , comments and shares are part of what we understand as engagement on a post.
I wonder if, with the feed update, it will be the number of views that will matter most, for example. It's quite possible; as you can see, the Save Post button , for example, has simply been removed from the on-screen options. But for now, Instagram hasn't made any statements about how the algorithm will behave with this change.
The critical part begins when we see how other types of content, such as carousels and photos, are appearing in the Instagram feed, TikTok-style.
Everything that isn’t reels seems to no longer “fit” on the social network. Take a look at the image below, of some Rock Content posts, with the new feed design:
The square image carousel in the new Instagram feed looks strangely "out of place"
Square video content now looks like it was simply posted in the wrong format
It feels like we're publishing content in a format that wasn't created for the platform. As a user experience, it becomes strange.
Just for comparison, here is the same news post before the update:
You can see the video in square format, the possible reactions you can make (like, comment, share or save), the subtitles, the comments and the next post that already appears, just waiting for you to scroll.
It seems much more appropriate than the other design, doesn't it?
Old layout: a social network that supports content in different formats and coexists well within the feed.
New Layout: It aims to be a platform for vertically shot videos... but it does accept uploading images and other formats. But still, anything that isn't vertical looks weird on the platform, like it doesn't belong there.
Well, this is a problem. At least today (and even with the update), Instagram does not allow images to be posted in the feed with a ratio of 1080x1920 pixels (the same aspect ratio as reels and stories). The maximum vertical format allowed for images, for now, is 1080x1350 px .
Maybe when the feed update rolls out to everyone, Instagram will allow new aspect ratios for images. Or, maybe they really don't want us to post photos and cards anymore, so they'll keep the weirdness of anything other than vertical videos.
