Is Instagram close to not being relevant?

It’s safe to say that every social marketer and instagram user has been up in arms about the shift in the Instagram algorithm. All videos will automatically become reels and the home feed will now prioritise reels-content over images. This has been a hot topic for a while, but it’s hitting a peak.

Based on clear user feedback across the internet, it looks like it just might be. With Insider Intelligence research revealing that Instagram’s user growth rate is decelerating, and users taking to Twitter with statements like "Instagram makes you not even want to post photos anymore", the platform is on rocky ground.

Instagram is taking away what we all loved about it. Sharing images and videos across your home feed with friends and following. Now, the home feed is a mixture of suggested content, influencers, shopping, stories, ads and of course, reels. Yikes.

You could say this has made Instagram a one-stop shop, great for brands and users alike with everything in one place. But the clear disdain for these updates is based on the distribution of this content onto the home feed, impacting users' visibility of content from those they follow, whether they be friends, brands or influencers.

Previously, Instagram had these functions (reels, ads, shopping) separated across tabs, allowing users to choose the type of content they wished to consume. Recent changes make Instagram that bit more confusing, and mean that, on average, you only see 10% of the posts shared by accounts you follow.

This has made it unclear what the main function of the platform is. Generation Z and millennial users turn to TikTok for short-form; Snapchat for stories; YouTube for long-form. What USP does Instagram have now it has taken focus off images?

One of the most noticeable algorithm updates is the shift to video-first content. Users are experiencing this as additional work, with the more curated, edited nature of reels vs TikTok. Likewise for brand marketers, it means a complete shift, or at least additional effort, across production to collate usable content for videos as the platform moves away from images.

Clearly, the shift to video was to compete with TikTok, but championing features such as Reels encourages people to watch, not engage – something Instagram has been notorious for.

Instagram has explored this route to appeal to brands, creators and advertisers, but is it really in their best interest? As regular users are deterred from the platform, reach and engagement rates will decline, impacting advertisers and creators negatively. A lot of users have complained about the decline in organic engagement due to the prioritisation of media buying and monetisation with a reported 25% decrease in engagement across the platform over the past year.