2021 is coming to an end for everyone, Adam Mosseri included. And so, to greet the year, the Head of the Instagram App gave his users an incredible video message in which he announces all the news of the social network for 2022. And considering that for the past twelve months the platform has done nothing but copy TikTok, it is quite evident that future plans focus onoptimization of video formats, so as to increase public involvement. In fact, in the past, Mosseri had already announced that the App would focus more on Reels. And now he has done nothing but confirm his intentions.
Instagram App: what will change in 2022 according to Adam Mosseri
Instagram Reels
“We will have to rethink what Instagram is because the world is changing rapidly and we should change with it”, so Adam Mosseri introduced his end of year speech about the news of the social network for 2022. In particular, there are two themes around to which the company’s efforts for the new year will focus: “video and control“. As for the first of the two themes, Mosseri declared: “We will double our attention to videos and consolidate all our video formats around Reels“. Nothing new, therefore, compared to what was announced months ago, when the social network began to imitate TikTok in terms of content production. On the other hand, in June 2021 the same Mark Zuckerberg stated that i Reels were the contents that most of all they contributed to the involvement of users.
Therefore, it is quite clear why the platform has decided to focus on short videos. If only simply to meet the needs of the public. But what will change then in 2022? As we are already seeing now, the Reels will be integrated into the main Feed of users. And short-lived videos will automatically be transformed into Reels, thus increasing their range. Indeed, it is quite likely that in a few years the Instagram App will decide to open up to a Feed entirely composed of Reels and Stories, thus moving away from the static post format we are used to and taking one more step towards TikTok.
2022 Priorities 📝
This next year is going to be pivotal for Instagram. In addition to our industry-leading safety and wellbeing efforts, we’re focused on these four key priorities.
Hope you’re all able to get some rest over the holidays. See you in the New Year! ✌🏼 pic.twitter.com/iY8uQ1EnMZ
— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) December 28, 2021
Messaging, monetization and more
As you can imagine, optimizing the Reels is not the only goal of the Instagram App for 2022. According to what was announced by Adam Mosseri, the platform will focus a lot on messaging within the application, being the “primary way people connect online”. Beyond this, it would also seem that the App wants to offer additional opportunities to creators, introducing new ones monetization tools. Finally, as we had anticipated, “control” will be one of the fundamental themes for social media in the year to come. Not surprisingly, Mosseri stated that transparency it will be an element to which the platform will pay extreme attention, so much so as to provide users with more information on “how Instagram works”.
In this sense, the return to the chronological feed it could represent an attempt to provide users with greater control over their own experience of using the social network. And this would be just yet another effort by the Instagram App to encourage transparency. As Mosseri himself recalls, in 2021 the platform added control over sensitive content, the ability to hide the Like count and the so-called “Hidden Words” in direct messages. In short, a considerable effort that the application hopes to carry out also in 2022. But beyond these innovations, it is clear that Instagram’s goal will be to keep its audience, snatching creator from TikTok. And focusing on videos to grow engagement. Clear and firm plans for the new year, then.