It began with a Tweet. Kylie Jenner kicked off the Instagram Revolution, ironically enough, by talking about Snapchat, on Twitter, saying, “So, does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me? Ugh this is so sad.”
What is she referring to? Well, as you might have noticed, especially if you read the Affiliate Industry Review blog, is that since the rise of TikTok in particular, all the major and even minor social media platforms appear to be swapping all their ideas. TikTok’s short form media format is popping up across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and more. Pinterest and Snapchat are stealing retail features like shops and product tagging. And Twitter is throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks while raging its battle with Elon Musk.
Rather than any of these platforms offering a distinct identity for users to attach to, they appear to be melting into the same face. What makes Facebook different from Instagram anymore beyond their lost demographic? What makes Pinterest different from Instagram? Or Twitter from any of them?
Well, one Tati Bruening has had enough and launched a Change.org petition to that effect.
The banner photo says “Make Instagram Instagram again. (Stop trying to be TikTok. I just want to see cute photos of my friends.) Sincerely, Everyone.”
The particulars of her demands are bullet-pointed as, “Bring back chronological timelines”, “Stop trying to be TikTok”, “An algorithm that favours photos” (rather than reels and videos), and “A platform that listens to creators”.
Marketers can help themselves and the platform when it comes to this issue. If you’ve been around long enough to remember what these platforms used to be, you can perhaps entice more users to your content by only posting what it was originally known for. Keep the short-form videos to TikTok, keep the photos for Instagram and Pinterest, keep the stories to Snapchat and Instagram and keep the text to Facebook and Twitter.
