Over the last week there has been A LOT going on in the online chatter about Instagram.

For the past few weeks everyone from political figures to tv stars have been complaining about their Instagram feeds.

The gist of the complaint is that Instagram is trying to push everyone to post Reels their new short video feature that looks and feels a lot like Tik-Tok.

And in so doing they are throttling the reach of everyone else’s picture posts to show more reels. 

Some of you might remember a few years ago when Facebook pivoted to video or when they switched their feed to look exactly like Instagram’s. 

Everything came to a head yesterday when Kylie Jenner posted “Make Instagram Instragram Again.”

This prompted a response and explanation/apology from Adam Mosseri who runs Instagram.

Besides the online drama that is fun to gawk at what does this mean for your business and the future of social media?

The first  🌊 of social media was sites like Friendster and Myspace.

Then there was Facebook.

Then Instagram.

And now Tik-Tok.

When these mega successful giant social media companies start copying competitors it means one thing and one thing only: 

That’s where the action is. 

Social media sites are not like other types of websites that need conversions and sales.

Facebook needs users to STAY on their site for hours a day.

And if that’s not happening they’re going to change the interface to what is working. 

Whether it’s more pictures, video or reels.

I think that’s what we’re seeing now in the push to Reels. 

If your business is highly dependent on Instagram I’d be a bit worried…

The last time Kylie Jenner complained about an app it knocked 8 BILLION dollars off of Snapchat’s share price in 24 hours. 

This is YET another reason why you MUST own your audience and build your email list because at any moment one of these social media platforms can pivot and end up in the graveyard with Myspace and Friendster. 

Start building that list and owning your data and I’ll be watching on the sidelines with some popcorn 🍿 to see how this all shakes out.

Best Regards,

Goran B Edstrom - SWEDEN - Proud - MarketHive - Entrepreneur 1 Member.