28 Jun [Instagram] – The New & Improved #SocialMedia Platform
Less than 4 months ago Instagram, or IG, as we affectionately like to call it, announced that it would be changing it’s logo. Let us rephrase….updating its logo. The change was met with the usual likes and dislikes, “it’s going off brand”, “it’s not true to the brand”. We don’t doubt that they took all comments seriously at IG HQ, but like last night’s chip paper, we have all embraced the change and it is now yesterday’s news. We happen to like the new design, and set about updating the logo where necessary.
The Old and New Instagram logos compared side by side.
So, what did the change actually mean for this “doesn’t show signs of slowing down” application, that boasts 500 million+ users (adding the +, as by the time we go to print that figure will no doubt have climbed further)? Quick side note: a few years back, Instagram performed the massive task of riding the platform of spam/fake accounts. Many users saw their follower count drop by half or more. It appears that many of these accounts have started back up again. So, do we take the question of how many people are using IG with a pinch of salt? No matter the answer, there is no taking away from how popular this application is!
In its latest update, Instagram introduced multiple account management within the same login. A huge bonus for social media managers, and a move that mirrors a feature that Twitter introduced a long time ago. There is after all nothing more frustrating than having to log in and out of the app to access different client accounts. The only drawback: you’re limited to 5 accounts.
That was an easy update to get to grips with. Part 2 of this wave of updates hit us all much harder. It should have come as no surprise of course, that this Facebook owned platform would eventually introduce the dreaded algorithm. Yep, due to the volume of content being published loyal users would now see images but not necessarily in the order that they are posted. Accounts that you have the least engagement with, you’ll now see less of. As an avid Facebook user, you’ll not be unfamiliar with this strategy.
Nearly everyone jumped on the ‘turn on post notifications’ posts. Which on face value seemed like a good idea, until you realised that turning on notifications for the 200 accounts that you follow would probably send your phone into a spiraling meltdown! Especially as we all follow accounts that are on different time-zones. What we found amusing was that some celebrity accounts jumped on this too. Did Kylie Jenner really need to ask her fans to turn on notifications so they wouldn’t miss any of her posts?
Kylie has amassed several more million followers since then, bringing her up to a cool 65.2 million, and while the rest of us have seen a less meteoric climb, accounts have been growing, proving that there is life after the algorithm. We dug in our heals and ‘gave out’ about the changes, but it has done little to reduce our usage. In fact, it has made us more determined than ever to keep our content regular, and of good quality. It would take far more than a few updates to discourage an ‘audience’ of 300 million DAILY active users.
Next month, we’ll be delving into Instagrams related platforms – there are three others in the ‘family’ – they too got the logo-update magic wand waved over them. And we’ll be exploring the applications to make our images ‘pop’, as well as how to create a cohesive Instagram theme for our feeds.
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