The online platform Instagram has responded to criticism from prominent users such as TV star Kim Kardashian by discontinuing functions. Instagram boss Adam Mosseri said in an interview with the newsletter “Platformer” on Thursday that Instagram will end a test in which users are suggested content that differs from their stated preferences using algorithms. Critics had accused Instagram of orienting itself too much towards its competitor Tiktok.
Instagram-wide reach reality TV stars Kim Kardashian and her half-sister Kylie Jenner had urged the platform this week to “go back to Instagram” and stop “trying to be Tiktok.” For this they received encouragement from many users.
So far, the content that is shown to Instagram users is mainly based on the user’s own contacts. The video platform Tiktok, on the other hand, does not focus on contacts, but rather its algorithm identifies general trends and user preferences.
Instagram’s parent company Meta, to which Facebook also belongs, is now, like Google and its video service YouTube, increasingly relying on short videos that are recommended to users with the help of a powerful algorithm. With its “shorts”, YouTube is also quite obviously copying the methods of its competitor Tiktok.
“We have to reposition ourselves”
At the end of January, Meta admitted that it was suffering from strong competition from other platforms, especially among young target groups. “People have a lot of choices about how they want to spend their time. And apps like Tiktok are growing very quickly,” said Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
On Wednesday, Zuckerberg said Facebook and Instagram would “at least double” the share of content suggested by recommendation algorithms from 15 percent by the end of the year. “We definitely have to take a big step back and reposition ourselves,” Adam Mosseri said in an interview with “Platformer”.
Source: Nachrichten
