Instagrump!
Angry users claim updated app is too much like TikTok
INSTAGRAM users are in uproar after claiming updates have made the platform too similar to arch-rival TikTok.
Celebrities including sisters Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner have shared a 220,000strong online petition calling for bosses to change it back.
Users say the app is making it harder to find posts from family and friends, by using its algorithm to decide which content people see.
They also claim Instagram’s growing focus on videos means they are now just seeing ‘old stale content’ from TikTok, an app devoted to videos. But Instagram boss Adam Mosseri said it will use video ‘more and more’, because people prefer it.
He added the reason some didn’t like recommended videos was because the algorithm was not yet good enough. TikTok, which has rapidly become the most-used social network in the world, relies on AI to show relevant videos to users.
Leaked memos within Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, show the tech giant is concerned about falling behind. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the company would more than double the amount of content recommended by its algorithm on the platforms.
Currently 15 per cent of Facebook’s content is recommended by an algorithm, and more on Instagram.
But the changes have not been welcomed by ordinary users and creators who make a living by using the platform.
A petition calling to ‘make Instagram Instagram again’ has been signed by over 220,000 people.
Kylie Jenner, the most-followed woman on Instagram, posted the petition link to her 361million followers which was shared by her older sister Kim Kardashian.
Tati Bruenig, who launched the petition, said she did so on behalf of ‘the people’ to bring back chronological timelines rather than content chosen by an algorithm.
She said it was ‘unfair’ to expect influencers who made a living on the platform to have to change the way they work to suit a new algorithm.
It comes as Meta last night announced its first ever drop in revenue.
On Wednesday a recording was leaked of Mr Zuckerberg, 38, saying the tech giant was facing the ‘worst downturn we’ve seen’.
Company shares dived 5 per cent after revenue fell to £23.7billion for the three months to the end of June from £23.9billion a year earlier.