Instagram has announced the postponement of the launch of the new features of its application after the criticism it has received from users, influencers and celebrities.
Among the new features was an increase in content recommended video feed, in a similar style to rival app TikTok.
The display and streams were criticized, as users felt they couldn’t see photos of friends and family like before.
Meta, the parent company of Instagram, said it wants to “ take the time” to make the right changes.
Emulating the competition
Instagram’s turn towards more Video content seems to respond to the growing popularity of competitor TikTok, where users post and watch recordings instead of photos.
Instagram users des They want to share photos and not videos. (Photo: GETTY IMAGES)
According to data From digital analytics company Sensor Tower, TikTok has been downloaded more than three billion times worldwide, making it the first app not owned by Meta to reach this milestone.
Instagram boss Adam Mosseri told The Verge that the trial version of the revamped app will be phased out in a few weeks.
“I’m glad we took the risk; if we don’t fail from time to time, it’s because we’re not thinking big enough or being bold enough, “he said through his Twitter account.
” We definitely need to give a big step back. We must learn and then we will come back with some new idea. So we are going to work on that”, he added.
Mosseri had previously posted a video explaining the changes and saying that full-screen videos would be promoted over photos.
But after some harsh criticism, he clarified that they will continue to “support the photos”.
Celebrities speak
In response to Mosseri’s initial video, American model Chrissy Teigen said that users “don’t want to make videos”.
For his part , celebrities Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner also shared an online “petition” to “make Instagram Instagram again” on their stories.
Toni Tone, author and content creator, posted what frustrated she was with the changes and how Instagram was so much better when it received content from the people she chose to follow.
A spokesperson for Meta told the BBC: “Based on our findings and feedback from community, we’re pausing the full-screen test on Instagram so we can explore other options, and we’re temporarily decreasing the number of recommendations you see on your feed so that we can improve the quality of your experience”.
“We acknowledge that the changes in the app can be a tweak, and while we think Instagram needs ev solve as the world changes, we want to take the time to make sure we get it right,” he added.
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