Why Have Instagram Stories Become Horizontal?

Horizontal is in, and vertical is out; since when has the orientation of our photographs meant so much? 

Social media always has new memes, trending content, and phases of visual aesthetics, from film-style photos to black-and-white images. But today’s Instagram trend is as simple as our photo’s orientation. 

I am curious how this trend started. I love to take photos, but have a natural inclination to take vertical pictures. I enjoy filling the whole screen with the picture, rather than the ⅓ that horizontal pictures capture. I even have early memories of correcting my parents to turn the phone vertical for a better picture. 

So why, suddenly, are we turning the phone sideways again? I have tried to understand where the appeal of horizontal pictures has come from, and this is what I conclude: 

1. We Are Going Back in Time: 

Beyond photography, vintage styles and materials are back in style. I argue that this phenomenon can explain our push towards horizontal pictures as well. Just as in clothes, old cameras are almost sacred today. As someone with a digital camera from 2010, my camera has seen more love today than in any previous year. Digital and film cameras are back, and they are back BIG! 

But how does that explain the push to horizontal? For a traditional camera, the natural position produces a horizontal photo, while for phones, we hold them vertically, producing vertical photos. We are people who love past trends and the use of traditional cameras, but as practical, maybe slightly lazy people, we are motivated to take horizontal pictures as that is the natural position of the camera. 

2. We Are More Landscape-Focused Today 

Social media has come under harsh criticism; people debate how it has impacted our generation, evaluating rates of cyberbullying or the impact on users from people who edit themselves or post their lives in ways that come across as “perfect.” Many believe social media can be a negative influence, causing us to overthink what we post and how we display ourselves on sites like Instagram. I wonder if this has influenced Instagram users to be more landscape-focused: are we removing ourselves, or hiding into the landscape of a horizontal photo on purpose? Is this a way to make ourselves less visible, less able to be judged or criticized by the world? 

Back to my parents, I find a connection with the classic parent inclination to zooooooom into pictures that we all hate. Are we a generation that prefers a zoomed-out picture, one that is less centered on us, but captures the environment in a way that makes us a part of it rather than the center? Is the horizontal picture the birth of an insecure, media-loving, but also media-afraid generation? 

3. More Usable Photo:

Is it simply that the horizontal photo is more usable? In a world of advancing graphic design, the horizontal picture provides a smaller, more easily moldable picture. It can be stacked and transformed in ways that a vertical picture can not. So maybe it’s not us, but the usability of the photo in general. 

4. We See the World Horizontally: 

Human nature could also explain our fascination with horizontal photography. Our eyes are side by side, giving us a wide horizontal view compared to our vertical range. Could our natural, wider, more developed horizontal view be the answer to our push towards horizontal pictures? 

Whether it’s our love for old cameras and practicality, or a newly insecure, landscape-loving generation, or even the mere usability of the horizontal photo, and our naturally better-developed horizontal vision to explain our push towards horizontal photography, they all make sense; it could be a combination of these reasons, and it could be none of them. I still seek answers for the root of this trend, but I know I will be embracing it; catch my horizontal Instagram stories coming soon!