Instagram retracts change to test app

Instagram retracts change to test app

2.8.2022

Meta’s Instagram is rolling back changes to its app after a test version was criticized by celebrity users including Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian and Trevor Noah.

The tests saw photos and videos posted in full-screen mode, prompting complaints that this was a blatant attempt to copy TikTok. The company will now put these changes aside to „explore other options.“

Instagram will phase out full-screen content in the next 1-2 weeks, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri told The Platformer. It will also reduce the number of posts recommended by the algorithm in users‘ feeds – a change that has placed more content in feeds from accounts they don’t follow.

„I’m glad we took a risk – if we don’t fail every now and then, we’re not thinking big enough or bold enough,“ Mosseri said.

The about-face came after Instagram model Jenner shared a petition this week urging the company to „make Instagram Instagram again.“

During a conference call Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Meta still plans to double the amount of recommended content on Instagram and Facebook this year.

He said Meta will continue to expand Reels, its short vertical videos on Instagram that mimic the style of TikTok.