Is Instagram Going the Way of AOL?
The once-minimalist photo-sharing app is rapidly becoming the kind of overstuffed web portal it was invented to subvert.
Have you hovered over the Instagram app recently, too exhausted at the mere thought of all the notifications, widgets, inboxes and posts awaiting you to open it?
It wasn’t always this way. Until recently, Instagram’s success had always come from its relative simplicity. It didn’t even let you post photos from your desktop until 2021.
In July, after the platform announced plans to pivot to a more TikTok-like interface, users, including the all-powerful Kardashians, revolted; the swift backlash of fury prompted Instagram head Adam Mosseri to release a video on Twitter effectively admitting how unpopular the redesign was and halting its further rollout, although he maintained that it would eventually arrive. Just last month, Instagram announced a slew of new features including group profiles, BeReal-style candid stories and 60-character notes you pin to your profile.