It all started with a “harmless” design change to the app icon…
It’s a sad day for all social networks. None are missing. Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Tinder… all attended his funeral. Even Facebook, which is rumored to have brutally and cold-bloodedly murdered her after regaling her with redesigns, decorations, features and delusions. That’s right, dear readers, followers and influencers: Instagram is dead.
Read on and discover the story of a social network that was born to become a solemn photo artist, but ended up in a crowded capitalist circus full of ambition and greed.
Denial: chronicle of a dead man announcement as obvious as expected
It was the year 2012 when Facebook acquired Instagram. It all happened on a stormy April morning, as if it were an eerie prelude to what was to come with the app. An application which, at the time, was positioned as the social network picture par excellence.
Things looked rosy for Instagram, its co-founders –Kevin Systrom there Mike KriegerThey were happier than ever. They never imagined that everything would end up twisting…
Anger: Instagram’s UI redesign
Instagram logo creation process
Facebook then started doing minor UI design changes of the social network. Later, the company made its devious intentions clear by completely redesigning the app icon – causing quite a stir among users – and even releasing a large collection of grotesque design concepts they had taken into account. Although there were some that weren’t that bad!
These could have been the possible new Instagram app icons
Negotiation: Facebook has radically changed Instagram’s marketing strategy
Anyway, once users got used to Instagram’s new icon and UI design, it was time to turn the social network into a money-making machine. Lots and lots of money.
All you have to do is open the app and do a few scrolls to see that the Instagram we knew is dead. There are no more pictures. There are only videos, advertisements, coilsmore announcements, professional content and more videos… Not a photo.
Additionally, the company has set up a specially designed store for users to purchase items that appear on the feed of content. Although Instagram is considering removing the store section from its app, its public image has been damaged by this decision forever, for the eternity of the internet.
depression: growth, commitment and social influence
There are many brands and influencers who report a low commitment in the social network. This suggests that what once worked like a charm on Instagram is now dead.
From Instagram, they do not try to hide that they intend to move towards a short video economic model similar to the one that has given so much success to TikTok or Snapchat. Some users are doing just fine, but if you continue to use Instagram like you did in 2012 (Valencia filter and all that), your commitment will suffer and social media algorithms will treat your content as basically non-existent.
The Decline of Engagement on Instagram
As this graph shared on a Hubspot blog indicates, the commitment of still photographs has fallen by 44% since the introduction of coils from Instagram:
On the other hand, the growth of the social network’s user base continues to be as exponential as ever. instagram recently surpassed 2 billion monthly active users, thus joining an elite club with Facebook and WhatsApp, which incidentally also belong to Meta. Do you know the song? “Money, money, money…”
Instagram growth data suggests the platform will welcome 1.44 billion users in 2025
Acceptance: the death of Instagram, in the hands of its users
For users who have grown and matured alongside Instagram – even those of us who have discovered a new hobby in the art of photography – we can only resign ourselves to acknowledging that the death of Instagram was inevitable.
From now on, Instagram, or what was left of it, will rest in the paradise of social networks… with Tuenti, Fotolog, Myspace and Vine. But all is not lost, we can still revive Instagram with our best weapon: the Photography.
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