Instagram boss Adam Mosseri has shared a video on Twitter defending recent changes to the social media platform, a day after celebrities including Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner criticized it for “trying to be TikTok”.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has been pushing short videos, a market that TikTok dominates on mobile.
WATCH VIDEO ABOVE: Instagram CEO defends recent changes
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Many users have not responded well to the change, and a post urging the company to “make Instagram Instagram again,” implying that it should focus more on pictures posted by friends, has garnered more than 1 .6 million likes and has resulted in nearly 140,000 petition signatures.
“Stop trying to be TikTok, I just want to see pretty pictures of my friends. Regards, everyone,” the post reads.
In his video, Mosseri said he knows there have been a lot of changes on Instagram.
Kim Kardashian, along with Kylie Jenner, have criticized the new Instagram changes. Credit: Instagram/Kim Kardashian
He said the app will continue to support photos, but he believes it will focus more on videos over time, as that’s what people like, share and consume on the platform.
He added that if users see a new full-screen version of his feed, it’s just a test.
“It’s still not good,” he said, noting that the experience will need to be improved if it’s rolled out to the rest of the Instagram community.
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri addresses changes to Instagram. Credit: Twitter/Adam Mosseri
Mosseri said she’s also heard a lot of concern about endorsements, which are posts that appear in the feeds of accounts users don’t follow.
He said recommendations are meant to help users discover new content and act as one of the “most effective and important” ways to help creators reach more people.
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Mosseri said that if people are not interested in these posts, they can close them or postpone all recommendations for up to a month.
He ended the video asking for feedback, and viewers didn’t hold back.
″[S]on top of getting it all shot,” one user wrote.
“You’re getting everyone from journalists, content creators, CEOs and celebrities to agree.
“Now it’s an app for everything you advertise, not for my friends and people I think are cool.”
Kylie Jenner, pictured, also shared the post about the recent Instagram changes. Credit: Instagram/Kylie Jenner
“When will Instagram accept that not all creators are video creators?” another user wrote.
“Graphic designers, photographers and other visual artists helped build IG and trusted it to share their work.
“And now you’re screwing them over to becoming a 15-second video streaming site that PPL can’t control.”
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