Instagram, like other major social media platforms, has entered the whirlwind of changes to give the video format the predominance it has acquired today among digital content consumers.
As expected, this emphasis on the audiovisual more than on photographs has generated early and emotional reactions from its users, who have understood it as an effort by Instagram to imitate the other dominant platform, Tik Tok.
Adam Mossen, the director of Instagram, has explained the reason for this bet. He has said that the platform will be based more on video because he has discovered what people like, consume, share and see on Instagram the most.
“We also need to evolve, because the world is changing rapidly and we are going to have to change with it.”
To a large extent it is true, because the overwhelming success of Tik Tok, which bases its engagement on “reels” or vertical videos, short and generally funny, reflects the trend of the tastes of the majority in the digital ecosystem.
The “reel” is the format most demanded by new audiences, especially after the long season of restrictions and confinements due to the Covid pandemic.
Humanity, fed up with confinement and wishing to escape the ghosts of uncertainty and pessimism, seeks distraction and any form of entertainment, more than bad news or content that tends to lower its spirits.
With this step, Instagram and other platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, fully enter a new phase of audiovisual competition based on the intensive use of audiovisuals, which will undoubtedly also have an impact on futuristic communication models.
Director's Thoughts 