Last month, Instagram released yet another update which was a big change to the app’s old layout. In the new layout, the reels and shopping tab replaced the notifications and the new post button.
This has changed the way of getting notifications and creating content for Instagram.
Previously, users could make posts and see their notifications while looking at another profile or the explore page – this is no longer possible with the new layout. On every user’s profile page there’s a plus sign to create posts, stories, highlights, IGTV videos, reels and guides.
So why did Instagram do this? During the first week of quarantine, TikTok was downloaded 2 million times, which was an 18% increase from the previous week. This made TikTok one of Instagram’s biggest competitors in the social media market. The reels tab on Instagramreplicates a TikTok like experience for Instagram users.
As someone who uses both Instagram and TikTok, I’ve found that by the time I see something on reels, I will have already seen it on TikTok and it’s not funny anymore. Most, if not all of the people who use reels, are creators from TikTok that repost their content on there. Reels consist of TikTok “copycats”, as cited in a Business Insider article. It’s kind of like a Walmart version of TikTok for people who don’t have the app.
The update isn’t being liked by many Instagram users, including celebrities. Beauty guru James Charles posted an angry rant on his story.
In his story, Charles talks about how Instagram has shown they do not care about their creators, they care about making money.
I put a poll on my Instagram story asking what people thought of the update. 84 percent, or 62 people said that they didn’t like it, while only 16 percent, or 12 people said they did. Some people gave reasons for why they didn’t like it. One reason that stood out to me was “they switched the heart and shopping tab so people could be subconsciously tricked into spending more.”
Users would habitually click the notifications tab and the update takes advantage of that. It took me a while to train myself to stop clicking the shopping tab.
It’s also harder to navigate the new Instagram layout since everything is in a different place. The point of Instagram is to create and share photos and videos. Lately, it’s been feeling more like an online shopping centre.