Instagram is No Longer Instagram
I was there Gandalf. I was there 15 years ago. The day Instagram launched. Actually, quite a bit before that. I was the 28th user of the service, at least as far as ID numbers go. There are now billions.
A few months before then, there was another launch. The iPad. It was a lot like an iPhone but with a big, beautiful screen. The type you might, say, like to look at pictures on. The timing was perfect.
And then. Nothing.
Rumor grew of a shadow in the App Store, whispers of a nameless build. And then the company perceived its time had now come. It abandoned startup life. But something happened then the app did not intend. It was picked up by the most unlikely creature imaginable: Facebook.
And yet the company with seemingly infinite resources refused to commit any to building a version of Instagram tailored to larger screens. Oh, on the web, sure. That version sucked. We waited. And waited. And waited. Until today.
Almost exactly 15 years after the service first launched to the world – they waited 15 years but couldn't wait a few more weeks to make for a fun story? – we now have a version of Instagram tailored for the iPad. And... it's sort of crap.
I mean, I don't know what it is, but it's not really Instagram. There's nothing "insta" or "gram" about it. It opens into Reels. You know the TikTok competitor that Meta keeps trying to make happen. And has for years. But now time is of the essence with TikTok itself still surrounded by uncertainty. Once it's acquired by whomever bestows upon Donald Trump the best fealty payment it may be too late. Meta needs to shove Reels in front of everyones' face right now. Pictures be damned. Instagram is now a viral video app. It should probably have a new name?
Yes, yes, you can find the photos feed. It took me a minute because it's buried in the second tab that looks like it should be for discovering friends but instead is for discovering Instagram, apparently. Once I found it, I started scrolling, thinking I could open up the images to take full advantage of the big, beautiful iPad screen. And nope.1 Because they simply no longer give a shit about such things.
Photos on Instagram are now an annoyance because they get in the way of a more lucrative form of engagement. You get the sense that Meta tolerates them simply because they have to, for now. But they're clearly not-too-slowly being shoved into a desk drawer. You can now do about 300 things on Instagram, but viewing pictures is probably number 200 on that last. And posting photos is more like number 299.
One imagines that soon it will all just be AI slop. You don't even have to squint to see it. Meta wants this. It is their destiny. Bots talking to bots and ads being surfaced to them.
Anyway, thanks for the app, Instagram. Finally. You can keep it.
M.G. Siegler
1 You can pinch-to-zoom on images, but they don't stay that way.