As you probably already know, we are big fans of posting our day-to-day smartphone images on Instagram. But, for anyone who has been loyal to the site over the years, you will have noticed some significant changes happening, and not the good kind.

Instagram’s algorithm

In 2012, Instagram was taken over by Facebook and initially the format of the site stayed the same. But things started to shift in 2016 when the platform introduced in-feed shopping and, crucially, switched from a chronological feed to an algorithm. Since then, Insta will show more of the accounts and types of posts users interacte with, as well as recommending accounts to follow.

This all may not sound like a big deal, but for more casual users of Insta, who nevertheless shared the most creative and stunning images, their posts were lost to the algorithm. Likewise, artists and creatives saw a big drop in interaction and, for many, the demand for more and more content (post, stories, live feed) was too much for individuals and smaller companies to compete. This was where Instagram truly lost its way and it only went downhill from there.

Not another TikTok

With TikTok coming onto the social scene and gathering huge interest over the lockdowns, Facebook had serious competition. So, Instagram introduced Reels in 2020 to try and compete. Suddenly our feeds were filled with video clips, most of which were (unwanted) recommended posts.

The once quiet sanctuary of ‘slow social’ Instagram, where we could take time to scroll through the well thought out and eye-catching pictures, was becoming lost. People we loved following disappeared from the site, or were lost in the vacuous feed of the now Reel focused algorithm.

“Why not adapt to the times and move to video content?” some might say. Our answer would be that while video is entertaining and videography visually stunning, the medium generally doesn’t suit the majority of creatives. Photographers, artists, cartoonists, stylists and crafters, and a whole set of other professionals and casual photography lovers alike, prefer to share and view images.

Artists make areas

As the acclaimed hair stylists Sam McKnight (@sammcknight1) recently posted “Artists and photographers saved Instagram from being a place of coffee and selfies and in the beginning we were supported. Once they achieved their goal we were dropped, used up, of no more use. Much like in the real world, artists make areas, then big finance move in and the artists are forced to move out.”

Thankfully, at the time of writing, Facebook has backtracked on their plans to change the format and algorithm of Instagram further. Let’s hope it stays that way before even more talent give up and leave the site for good.

If you would like to keep up with what we are working on, the courses we run and the fun and beautiful daily captures on our smartphones, follow us on social https://www.jetblacksquares.com/contact.