Kim And Kylie Would Like Instagram To Stop With The Videos
Honestly, I’m with them.
Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner have over half a billion Instagram followers between them, and the two have used the platform to build their empires over the last decade; however, the makeup moguls aren’t happy with Instagram’s ongoing pivot from photos to videos.
On July 25, Kim and Kylie both shared a post on their IG Stories imploring the company to stop the proliferation of video content on the app. The post by photographer Tati Bruening read, “Make Instagram Instagram Again. (stop trying to be tiktok i just want to see cute photos of my friends.) Sincerely, Everyone.” Bruening also launched a Change.org petition on the subject, and it currently has 168,000 signatures.
According to People, Kylie shared Bruening’s post on her Instagram Story and wrote, "PLEASEEEEEEE.” Kim also shared the post and wrote "PRETTY PLEASE.”
Backlash against the app led Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri to address the changes on July 26...in a video on Instagram in which he addressed users’ concerns with full-screen content, IG’s pivot to video, and the recommendations feature. “The second thing I’m hearing a lot of concerns about right now are photos, and how we’re shifting to video,” Mosseri said in the video. “Now, I want to be clear, we’re gonna continue to support photos. It’s part of our heritage. I love photos; I know a lot of you out there love photos too.”
He went on to say that Instagram will likely become “more and more” video content. “We see this even if we change nothing,” he said. “So we’re gonna have to lean into that shift, while continuing to support photos.”
The platform’s pivot to video is believed to come as a result of TikTok’s domination in recent years. In February, Bloomberg reported that Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Instagram’s parent company Meta, told employees to focus more on short-form videos.
Since then, Instagram Reels have become a bigger part of the app’s experience and seem to be increasingly favored by the algorithm. This too hasn’t been universally supported by creators.
I’m not one to be on the side of the Kardashians, but I’m just as frustrated with IG’s changes as they are. Given the app’s new focus on videos instead of photos, maybe it’s time for Kim and Kylie to pivot to BeReal.
