Instagram’s plans to shift to a video content platform

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then how much is a video worth?

With the social media sphere constantly evolving, it can be difficult to keep up with the new contenders, nevermind the updates that the industry leaders are making. Social apps like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and more have primarily focused on static content and longer length videos, and that’s where TikTok identified a gap in the market to capitalise on short length video content to entertain users in under 30 seconds.

Instagram Jumping on the Bandwagon

Since launching, TikTok has quickly gained a large portion of the market share, shaking up the industry and prompting leading platforms, such as Instagram, to jump on the short video trend to capture the same levels of user engagement with the addictive nature of the app’s content.

In order to remain competitive for the second spot of overall user engagement, behind Facebook, Instagram introduced their new short video feature ‘reels’ which essentially mirrors the same feed layout and functionality of TikTok videos. Since the launch of this feature last year, Instagram has consistently updated their algorithm to showcase more and more video content on users’ feeds to encourage content creators to use this feature to amplify overall engagement across the platform.

This was initially an effective move for the company to keep up with changing user behaviour but the company has since shared further plans to expand their use of video content and change their overall strategy to become more than just a photo sharing application.

In a video, ironically on Twitter, Instagram’s chief Adam Mosseri, shared the internal plans of the platform and expressed that Instagram is no longer a ‘square photo-sharing app’ to keep up with users’ entertainment needs.

The Future of Instagram & Social Media

Despite images currently having higher engagement than reels and video content, this trend is set to change with the boom of users binge-watching video content through the pandemic. With Instagram’s ongoing effort to switch up their platform, their algorithm is constantly changing and evolving, making it more difficult to reach and engage with users using organic content.

Although there are mixed opinions of whether this is the right move for the platform, it’s one that creators should keep up-to-date with to ensure their content remains relevant to users and rewarded by the ever-changing, and difficult, Instagram algorithm.

Whether you’re looking to launch your brand into the sphere of social media, or need help keeping up with these new features and ever-changing algorithms, Click2Convert understand the social media landscape and have the tools and expertise to take your online presence to the next level.