Instagram Is Over • Hacker News Board

Re: Instagram Is Over

#161

Post by deltree7 » Sat, Dec 03, 2022, 9:18 PM UTC

impulser_ wrote: post #63

They moved on from Facebook being over to Instagram being over lol. Instagram isn't over. It's still the most popular social media app on both App Store and Google Play in the US. For the past couple of years you always see articles popping up about Facebook being dead, then you look at the actual data and people are using Facebook more than ever. Look at the last report from Meta, more people on a daily and monthly…

I like how HN crowd falls all over for an article that caters to what they want to believe.

Where is Anecdotal vs Actual Usage Data rage?

Ah, that's right, it doesn't fit their narrative. So, everyone is happy to Fox-News this.

Re: Instagram Is Over

#162

Post by akeck » Sat, Dec 03, 2022, 9:32 PM UTC

nightski wrote: post #89

throwaway82388 wrote: post #15

I’m far from bullish on meta long-term, but reporting like this would have you believe that nobody uses Facebook, and that Instagram is soon to share its fate. Optimists that they are, tech reporters overweight growth to absurd extremes. Maybe reporting on youth trends brings out the insecurities in all of us—you’d rather not look clueless in front of your two cool friends in their early 20s than the 2 billion or so…

It takes a second to open an app, become a MAU, and then close it in disinterest. I'll admit this is my relationship with Facebook. I never see anything on there I am remotely interested in. Just old relatives spewing nonsense. But I guess I count as one of those 2 billion MAUs. I wonder how many are in the same spot.

Myself and other folks in my friend group are MAU in that we use FB about once a month, maybe once every two months. My IG use became the same after the recent feed changes. Using either platform now feels like work and I have enough work to do already.

Re: Instagram Is Over

#163

Post by isametry » Sat, Dec 03, 2022, 9:37 PM UTC

viburnum wrote: post #27

“In other words, Instagram is giving us the ick: that feeling when a romantic partner or crush does something small but noticeable—like wearing a fedora—that immediately turns you off forever” This was so ridiculously judgmental that I couldn’t keep reading.

There are currently two comments in this thread reacting defensively to that fedora mention – which is two more than I would've preferred there to be.

Re: Instagram Is Over

#164

Post by Animats » Sat, Dec 03, 2022, 9:45 PM UTC

matheusmoreira wrote: post #145

dbtc wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We should stop letting them have it as if it was their property.

Yes. Advertising should be illegal. Failing that, there should be ubiquitous technology to render it completely ineffective by deleting ads in real time, destroying any and all returns on their advertising investment. One day someone smarter than me will make some machine learning thing that deletes brands from videos in real time.

> Advertising should be illegal.

Arguably, it should not be a tax-deductible business expense for businesses. At least not beyond, say, 20% of cost of goods sold.

Re: Instagram Is Over

#165

Post by isametry » Sat, Dec 03, 2022, 9:57 PM UTC

rglullis wrote: post #33

BbzzbB wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are reasons why IG has 2B people, part of which is not charging $1/month.

There are many email providers who are quite profitable by charging just that and are not afraid of Gmail's absolute dominance.

Well, and do those providers have 1.5 billion users like Gmail does?

I'm not really sure whether you made this analogy to disagree or to prove their point.

Re: Instagram Is Over

#166

Post by noveltyaccount » Sat, Dec 03, 2022, 10:05 PM UTC

"To scroll through Instagram today is to parse a series of sponsored posts from brands, recommended Reels from people you don’t follow, and the occasional picture from a friend that’s finally surfaced."

I have two Instagram accounts: one that only follows friends and family. Another that follows brands, influencers, and such. It completely fixed my Instagram experience. I can choose the (low volume) social network of friends, or endless scrolling and discovery. Never do they intermix. The friends-only feed is so low traffic, I never get sucked into sponsored or suggested posts. Highly recommend.

Re: Instagram Is Over

#167

Post by standardUser » Sat, Dec 03, 2022, 10:15 PM UTC

pelasaco wrote: post #128

standardUser wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Instagram has functionality to download all of your content, including archived stories.

interesting, I didn't know that.

Facebook too, just FYI!

Re: Instagram Is Over

#168

Post by isametry » Sat, Dec 03, 2022, 10:15 PM UTC

dmix wrote: post #24

dmje wrote: post #12

Eldest son (17) and all his mates use it - very rarely do they post publicly, it's purely for messaging. I've never been sure why, there's plenty enough alternatives, but that's how it is for him and his cohort.

It’s used heavily in dating these days. We use instagram as a messenger because that’s what everyone has and it’s socially easier to ask a new person for the instagram rather than their phone number. Its predictable and not entirely private like a close friend group chat on iMessage or WhatsApp. Plus of course the way it integrates with feeds of photo/videos you’re already looking at casually. The same way FB used to…

If data plans weren't tied to them, Gen Z probably wouldn't have phone numbers at all anymore. (Well, at least in those parts of the world where a data reception no slower than 3G is ubiquitous.)

If you think about it, the whole concept really does stick out nowadays. The idea of this unique, static (or at least not easily changeable), non-descript identifier tied only to you and your physical device is very much a product of its time.

Phone numbers only continue to exist by momentum – if a similar thing were to be implemented today, it would never catch on so universally.

Re: Instagram Is Over

#169

Post by lmedinas » Sat, Dec 03, 2022, 10:33 PM UTC

There are 3 reasons why Tiktok succeeded and Instagram struggles.

1) The focus of the Social Network is normal people, doing anything it might be interesting to others. Which is pretty much the contrary of Instagram which focus on Celebrities and "Friends".

2) Tiktok has an amazing fine-tuned Algorithm. Its like even a mirror of your subconscious, it tries very much to play anything you desire to see.

3) Instagram, Youtube and Twitter are full of ads. It just breaks the user experience. Youtube experience sucks too because they show Videos with higher probability of views which in turn are tipically big youtubers playing sponsored content.

Re: Instagram Is Over

#170

Post by raydev » Sat, Dec 03, 2022, 11:09 PM UTC

63 wrote: post #107

Animats wrote: post #86

"To scroll through Instagram today is to parse a series of sponsored posts from brands, recommended Reels from people you don’t follow, and the occasional picture from a friend that’s finally surfaced after being posted several days ago. It’s not what it used to be." That seems to be how social media services die. Too many ads, fewer users, revenue drop, more ads to boost revenue, still fewer users, irrelevance. This…

This isn't my experience with Instagram at all. I only follow people I know personally, check in once or twice a day and see posts and stories from them and really nothing else. No sponsored posts, no reels, etc. Maybe some ads. I don't use the discover page and stop scrolling my feed once I get through all the new posts so maybe that's it.

How many people do you "know"? Because I follow about 50 people I know, and only around 20 of them post with any regularity, and Instagram injects "Suggested Posts" throughout my feed. I'd say it's majority "Suggested Posts" on most days. And then I'll stumble on a nice photo that a real friend posted, and it's from 3 days ago.