Gone are the days when Instagram was a photo-centric platform. The recent introductions made in the app are bringing it closer to Facebook (who owns Instagram FYI). The latest addition is that you can now “like” the comments on posts, sounds familiar? This is the exact reason for those long discussions on Facebook posts.
Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom billed it as a way to “encourage positivity” on the platform, but we know, it’s just a step closer to Facebook.
Every recent update made by the app has received negative reviews from the users. People started using Instagram because it was different from Facebook. Let us take a look at the updates introduced in the app in the past six months,
-June 2016: Their long-rumored algorithmic timeline, which orders posts based on “what you care about” rather than chronology, finally rolls out.
-August 2016: The app comes out with the feature of “stories”. Though it was done to compete with Snapchat, it is just a copy of the same-named feature from Snapchat.
-November 2016: Live videos with a twist; ephemeral videos that you can keep public or send as a direct message.
-December 2016: You can now like the comments, just like in Facebook.
Instagram is doing everything it can to keep the users engaged. The app has been around for six years and has already passed its 500 million users mark earlier this year. It is comparatively lesser than Facebook or even WhatsApp.
The Company had announced in June, before “stories” was introduced, out of the 500 million 300 million use Instagram on a daily basis. Further, more than 95 million posts are updated every day.
Today, the Company claims more than 100 million users update posts daily. They are looking forward to gaining more popularity with the newly introduced features.
As Instagram is moving away from its roots, the strategy is becoming riskier. It is time that they watch out and maintain the uniqueness to remain popular.
