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Instagram Is Over

theatlantic.com

61–70 of 226 posts

Re: Instagram Is Over

#61

Maybe I'm ignorant of what TikTok is but it seems to be mostly about video sharing and less about "social networking" with friends and family?? I also think TikTok has serious risks going forward re Chinese government. Already a lot of grumbling from lawmakers in US about banning it as CCP growing more belligerent in recent years whereas Facebook products aren't at all influenced by it.

Tiktok is short addictive videos from randos. Youtube is long addictive videos. Instagram and facebook is still primarily focused on content from people you know, though they are also trying to copy some of TikTok’s randos content via the Reels feature. At the end of the day they just want to get attention by giving content, whether using friends or essentially crowdsourcing. I prefer Netflix, because I’m paying them…

The trend in social media for years has been away from social and toward just addictive content and finding the best way to crowdsource that content. The purpose is becoming simply to get you to spend as much time as possible staring at the phone to sell ads, and nothing more.

I predict the next advancement will be pure AI generated content, just a continuous adversarial attack on the human brain programmed to maximize viewing time for each individual. This could be packaged as things like virtual friends (Replika) or games with constantly evolving game play punctuated with ads or even as something that looks like TikTok.

Pure refined 200 proof addictive emptiness is the logical apex of “free” mass media. We will look back on TV and early generation social media as high culture compared to what’s coming.

Re: Instagram Is Over

#62
post #23

This is one of the biggest jibes I have ever read, given that Meta's MAU is the highest of all time (2.9b, if I remember correctly) Instagram it's not over, and I bet will win the battle against TikTok

Jibe?

Jibe

(verb): change course by swinging a fore-and-aft sail across a following wind.

(noun): an act or instance of jibing.

GP believes that the Atlantic article constitutes an instance of changing course by swinging a sail across a following wind, presumably metaphorically.

Re: Instagram Is Over

#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 basis are using Facebook and Instagram than ever both.

Nearly 3b people use their apps on the daily basis. It going to take on hell of a long time before they become over.

Re: Instagram Is Over

#64
Author points to data showing 300m active users in 2013, 2b active users now, yet claims that Instagram is over. What is the replacement? Where is the decline?

Re: Instagram Is Over

#65

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…

> Look at the last report from Meta, more people on a daily and monthly basis are using Facebook and Instagram than ever both.

It's more nuanced than that.

If you're losing traction where it matters - in younger generations & high-value markets like the US that have higher future cash flows - it doesn't matter if you're making up for it with usage from old people or people in poor countries without good advertising infra.

Facebook is definitely not looking rosy for the future.

And Instagram seems like it's on a similar path to Facebook 4 or 5 years ago. It doesn't look bad, but it also doesn't look great...

Re: Instagram Is Over

#66

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…

Gonna say between my three daughters and their huge network of friends and family I can’t see “insta” fading away anytime soon… maybe as an investor we could say expected growth is going to slow due to market saturation or something but “insta” is here to stay from what I can see

Re: Instagram Is Over

#67
Honestly I never understood the appeal.

A social network that forces you to wedge your content in images and short videos, while on Facebook you could share YouTube videos, music, interesting links, write-ups, you name it. How can anyone in their right mind prefer something as limiting as Instagram? Even its instant messenger is limited compared to Facebook's.

Re: Instagram Is Over

#68
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

If you use one of those smaller paid email providers you can still interact with people who use Gmail. If you tried to create a small Instagram competitor it's unlikely that Facebook would ever agree to federate with you.

No, but you can federate with the millions of people already using other alternatives based on ActivityPub.

People are really underestimating the second order effects from the Twitter exodus. It's not just Twitter that has a competitor. It's just a matter of time until all the Fediverse gets enough of a critical mass and then all walled gardens will lose its appeal.

Re: Instagram Is Over

#69

I am surprised people expect these apps to remain popular for a long time. The internet has changed so much. I've watched social media apps come and go every few years and I personally think they are all short lived trends with maybe a few exceptions. They capture a young market first, who provide the value (photos, videos, memes) and then older generations start joining after the young market is captured. Then after…

I mean I think the people who predicted they would remain popular for a long time were actually right? They may stop accelerating but they are still as popular as ever.

YouTube is the second visited site in the US and FB is the third - and they've been at the top for over a decade. E-mail is not a social network but has stuck around for 20 years. I've used Reddit since 2010. I've been on Instagram for six years now and probably use it more now than I ever have. Even Snapchat which to me seemed like a fad - is massively popular among teens.

I think it is true there are lots of smaller sites like Vine or Digg or YikYak which peter out but it seems like if you hit the critical mass then you can maintain popularity for decades.

Re: Instagram Is Over

#70

Maybe I'm ignorant of what TikTok is but it seems to be mostly about video sharing and less about "social networking" with friends and family?? I also think TikTok has serious risks going forward re Chinese government. Already a lot of grumbling from lawmakers in US about banning it as CCP growing more belligerent in recent years whereas Facebook products aren't at all influenced by it.

Tiktok is short addictive videos from randos. Youtube is long addictive videos. Instagram and facebook is still primarily focused on content from people you know, though they are also trying to copy some of TikTok’s randos content via the Reels feature. At the end of the day they just want to get attention by giving content, whether using friends or essentially crowdsourcing. I prefer Netflix, because I’m paying them…

> I prefer Netflix, because I’m paying them and they are not just manipulating me to show ads

Sorry to break it to you but Netflix is absolutely manipulating their audience in trying to convince everyone to watch Netflix productions.

When Netflix came into the market they had a unique platform and were burning money to get good content in. Now studios realized there is money in streaming and are squeezing Netflix prices.

Making their own productions means it is all vertical for them, less risk and more profitable.

By the end of it you're stuck watching something, just not exactly what you wanted in the first place.

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