Instagram is Shifting its Gears... What Does This Mean for Photographers and Small Businesses?

Visual and photographs provided by Y.O. Photos.

Instagram is Not What it Used to be

Instagram, a formerly known photo-sharing app originally designed to fulfill founders Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom's love for photography, has drifted drastically since its initial debut back in 2010. From app logo changes to new features being added overnight, it comes as no surprise that Instagram has undergone some distinct changes over time. In a highly competitive and extremely volatile market such as social media, every step must be taken meticulously to stay on top of competitors. As of recent headlines, the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri publicly announced that Instagram would be shifting its gears to focus primarily on video format going forward. This announcement brought many photographers to a sense of panic. A platform whose purpose was to be a place to share photos is now prioritizing video-sharing. Feeling estranged, fearful photographers have fled to other platforms like Twitter to save their businesses in response to Mosseri's statement. Though this decision greatly affected photographers, it also has an impact on small businesses that solely use Instagram's photo-sharing features. As a photographer who prioritizes Instagram for their business, the question must be asked: how do we stay afloat?

Visual and photographs provided by Y.O. Photos.

Ways to Stay Relevant

Instagram's new direction does not mean it is now useless for photographers. This is an opportunity to share content in new and exciting ways for our businesses. To optimize the app, it is important to understand the features that have been introduced to us within recent years.

Stories

Instagram Story is a feature that was added in response to app competitor, Snapchat. This is a concept where users post videos and photos and it will appear for 24 hours for friends and followers to see until it is then deleted. This is a useful tool as users are able to post unlimited content without having to worry about taking up unnecessary space on their feed. Stories also allow users to repost posts that they like and even their own content on their story. This is great for photographers and other businesses as they are able to highlight their posts, informing followers when there is new content on their page. Flyers, updates, and endless ideas are great things to post on your Story.

Reels

Instagram Reels is a feature introduced in 2020 in response to the growing popularity of the video-sharing app, TikTok. Reels offers users to post short video clips that can be seen on their main feed or reels feed. Almost identical to TikTok, Reels allows you to attach sounds to your video that can often help boost the reach of the post. Reels have an algorithm that helps get your video out to the right people. It makes it easier for people to stumble across your page as they are swiping through hundreds of different short videos, consuming content at a faster rate. Great applications for Reels could be posting behind-the-scenes videos or Questions and Answers.

Live

Following the footsteps of their sister company, Facebook, Instagram introduced its broadcasting feature back in November 2016. This allows users to live stream whatever they would like. This is a great feature for photographers and businesses as they are able to interact in real-time with their followers. Live typically has a more casual environment as users feel liberated to broadcast content that is loosely related to their page or what they do outside their craft. Going live is the fastest way to deliver information to your followers.

What's Next?

Though Instagram stated they were going in a new direction, this does not mean they getting rid of their photo-sharing capabilities. Instagram was never a social media app strictly for photography, it was a photo-sharing platform. This shift may have caught some off-guard, but it is not the end-all-be-all for photographers. Optimizing the earlier mentioned features to their fullest capacity and with creativity, Instagram remains to be an amazing app for photographers. There are countless ways to remain relevant so as long as you adapt to the changes.

Sources:

Murphy, K. (2021, July 2). Instagram alienates photography community after CEO's recent statement. DPReview. Retrieved December 7, 2021, from https://www.dpreview.com/news/1468763598/instagram-alienates-photography-community-after-ceo-s-recent-statement. 

Day, Andy, and Follow Andy Day is a British photographer and writer living in France. He began photographing parkour in 2003 and has been doing weird things in the city and elsewhere ever since. He's addicted to climbing and owns a fai. “If Instagram Is No Longer a Photo-Sharing App, Should You Ditch It and Use Twitter Instead?” Fstoppers, 9 July 2021, https://fstoppers.com/social-media/if-instagram-no-longer-photo-sharing-app-should-ditch-it-and-use-twitter-instead-570065. 

Clark, M. (2021, June 30). Head of Instagram says Instagram is no longer a photo sharing app. The Verge. Retrieved December 7, 2021, from https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/30/22557942/instagram-no-longer-photo-app-video-entertainment-focus.