Instagram is no longer a photo sharing app, here’s why

It’s the tech world’s proverbial worst-kept secret but it’s not officially out. Instagram isn’t a photo sharing app anymore. While millions who use the app daily perhaps already knew this, now it has been made ‘official’ by the head of Instagram.
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, posted a video on Twitter and Instagram and made the claim. Mosseri wrote, “At Instagram we’re always trying to build new features that help you get the most out of your experience. Right now we’re focused on four key areas: Creators, Video, Shopping and Messaging.”
There you go. No mention of photos as Instagram will now be all about videos, shopping (well, photos might just make their way here), creators (it’s all about Reels, isn’t it?), and Messaging (the stamp of Facebook).
Mosseri explained why this shift from photos to others as he spoke about the four focus areas individually. Starting with creators, Mosseri said that the “power” is shifting from institutions to individuals and Instagram wants to play a role in that.
With videos, the head of Instagram feels that they are driving growth for all major platforms — namely TikTok and YouTube. Mosseri says that Instagram is no longer a photo sharing or a “square photo sharing” platform and that research said people use Instagram “to be entertained”. Mosseri acknowledged that competition is tough in the space. “TikTok is huge, YouTube is even bigger and there are a lot of upstarts in the space,” he said in the video. The head of Instagram said that over the coming months, users will see a lot of “experiments” when it comes to viewing videos on Instagram.
For shopping, Mosseri pointed towards the shift in online shopping behaviour due to the Covid-19 pandemic. And lastly, messaging is the focus and users on Instagram, as per Mosseri, have moved from Stories and Feed to Messaging to connect with friends and others.