Image via Meta/Instagram | The previous hated redesign
Instagram is focusing more on video content, especially with Reels, and that much has been made very clear by now. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri spoke about how the switch to a mainly video-content platform was inevitable. Although Instagram was going to go for a redesign that would create full-screen photos, that’s been halted.
Still, Instagram is going to start testing tall 9:16 photos “in a week or two,” showing that the TikTok-style feed is still a potential future for the previously mostly photo-sharing app.
“You can have tall videos, but you cannot have tall photos on Instagram,” Mosseri said. “So we thought maybe we should make sure that we treat both equally.”
As of right now, Instagram allows vertical images but only in a 4:5 scale. However, the introduction of a 9:16 photo would fill the screen much in the same way that Reels do currently.
Many photographers were against the recently introduced potential redesign for Instagram, saying that it would force them to take all photos in an awkward 9:16 aspect ratio. The redesign also tried adding gradients to the bottom of photos to make captions easier to read, but that took away from the original posted content.
Instagram found that the redesign made users want to use the app much less, showcasing just how disliked the entire redesign truly was. “I think that we need to take a big step back, regroup, and figure out how we want to move forward,” Mosseri said in an interview.
Although the full-screen photos were not very popular with users, Instagram seems to be pushing forward with providing users the option to use an ultra-tall photo feature. Instagram will also reduce the amount of recommended accounts being placed on user feeds until the algorithm becomes better at selecting content that users would enjoy.
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Zainah Yousef
Zainah Yousef is the author of The Fallen Age Saga and specializes in gaming, social media advice, and reviews. She's been writing all her life and she probably won't stop anytime soon.
