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Today we are talking about Instagram. Nope, not how they got their first users this time but how lack of innovation may kill the app in the near future. Yes I know you think I’m crazy LOL Enjoy the reading 🤙
From Stories to Reels, Instagram is just copying competitors
According to Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri, Instagram is no longer a photo sharing app. Mosseri said the company is looking to dive into entertainment and video after the success of competitors like TikTok and YouTube. He describes some upcoming changes and experiments that Instagram will be doing, including showing users recommendations for topics they’re not following and making video more immersive by offering a full-screen experience.
And if we think about what has been going on over the platform lately, the features Instagram introduced are literally a copycat of biggest competitors: Stories from Snapchat, Reels from TikTok and the social audio rooms from Clubhouse.
That being said, I believe there is a problem in all of this. Engagement is going to drop. Lack of innovation and unique features will make Instagram always more replaceable and could potentially kill the company in 6-10 years from now. Look at some numbers from Social Insider (kudos to them!)
Until February 2020, carousels were the posts that had a bigger engagement rate on Instagram, but starting with March they were quickly replaced by videos, only to have a role change again, starting with November 2020.
What’s exactly happening?
They focused on others’ strengths rather than their own weaknesses. They are losing their position as pioneers, becoming early followers;
Their interface became a mess. In trying to keep their users engaged and hooked, they added too many new features which diluted the true essence of the app;
They gave birth to influencer marketing which is indirectly causing their own downfall. Instagram’s algorithms has changed and they are making it more difficult to gain a following. If they do not keep influencers happy, the same way word-of-mouth can promote a brand or product, in reverse word-of-mouth from influencers can demote and destruct a brand or product too. "People are status-seeking animals and they seek out the most efficient path to maximizing social capital.
Long story short, the Unique Selling Proposition is not clear anymore.
Zoom out: Social capital, Utility and commerce features
One of my favorite paper is Status-as-a-service (StaaS) written my Eugene Wei, where he explains the importance of social capital. It's useful to look at some of the common paths that social networks traverse over time using a two-axis model comparing utility and social capital.
Could commerce features be the lifeline? Exciting times ahead.
Thanks for sticking through, I hope you enjoyed the article. If you have anything you would like me to to dive deeper and write about, please drop me an email at antonio21lavia@gmail.com. See you next week 👋👋👋