It's Game Over for 'Traditional' Instagram Influencers

The golden era of Instagram seems to be long gone.

And this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

What was once a fun photo-sharing app turned into a bizarre marketplace full of InstaCelebrities, InstaModels, and other InstaFame chasing influencers. The platform stopped being genuine, user-friendly, and, most importantly - fun.

And with almost every new app update, it feels like Instagram is just digging its own grave.

The algorithm is now absolute garbage; the ads are everywhere, and what was once the 'Activity' tab is now a 'Shop'. I never got used to the latter, which makes me think it was probably an intentional move to lure people into buying crap they don't need.

Despite all of this, Instagram is still one of the most popular social media platforms out there. But it's not the fastest-growing anymore - that trophy now belongs to Tik Tok.

And Instagram is, not surprisingly, desperate to copy everything they do.

Instagram is no longer a photo-sharing app

Last month, Facebook's head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, has revealed the company has big changes planned for the platform in a video posted to Twitter:

We're no longer a photo-sharing app or a square photo-sharing app. […] Let's be honest, there's some really serious competition right now. Tik Tok is huge, YouTube is even bigger, and there's lots of other upstarts as well.

And so people are looking to Instagram to be entertained, there's stiff competition, and there's more to do then we have to embrace that. And that means change.

In the video, Mosseri also says that Instagram will focus on four key areas: Creators, Video, Shopping, and Messaging.

So it basically sounds like Instagram is going to become more and more like TikTok. It's no secret that video content has taken over the Internet and social media by storm in the last couple of years. And we've seen the beginning of that change at Instagram with the introduction of Reels the previous year.

But Reels didn't exactly do wonders for Instagram. Most of them are just reposted Tik Tok videos, usually uploaded with a significant delay - that means that the thing they talk about or the trend they capture is already 'old' and irrelevant.

What Instagram is planning to do now is taking its Reels to the next level by creating a 'recommendations' feed that will probably look similar to TikTok's 'For You Page'. This means we will no longer see content from people we follow on Instagram, and our feed will turn into a selection of videos based on our interest or previously liked posts.

And that change will massively affect 'traditional' Instagram influencers' engagement and reach, especially if they fail to adapt to what's coming.

Shifting to video content is possible, albeit not easy

Although it's true that many big Instagram names are already experimenting with video content, it's becoming evident it's not everyone's cup of tea.

In order to create engaging, entertaining, or educating video content, you need to possess at least some basic video making & editing skills, have something interesting or funny to say, or be great at a particular activity. And no, taking selfies and advertising detox teas doesn't exactly count as the latter.

Video content created by the typical Instagram influencers is often mediocre, at best. It's so uninteresting it hurts. Sometimes it's just them showing off an outfit or what they are up to at the moment. And when they try to talk about a 'hot issue of the moment', it's even worse.

I've recently unfollowed one influencer who proudly said in her Reels she doesn't care about politics because we can all 'just choose peace'. Yes, if only it were that easy. Needless to say, her comment section was full of angry people expressing how disappointed they are.

But hey, perhaps we shouldn't expect much from people who mostly rose to fame by doing nothing?

Seeing Instagram influencers already struggling to stay relevant and making cringy video content in hopes of getting back to their glory days, I really can't help but feel that Instagram's upcoming changes will be the end of them.

Or at least the end for those who aren't smart enough to evolve with this transition.

What comes next after the Influencer Era?

Many of us are understandably exhausted by the things that influencers once represented: over-filtered selfies, inspirational quotes, and ostentatious hauls.

What once distinguished them from models or actors is that they seemed 'normal'. Perhaps even relatable. But that ship has sailed once we've realized there is nothing normal or relatable about traveling to tropical locations every month or getting botox every other weekend.

We don't want to look at picture-perfect lives anymore. We got weary of aspirational content. And we don't want to be bombarded with sponsored content in practically every post.

What social media users crave now more than anything else is authenticity. And Tik Tok has become a good place to find it.

Although it's true that not all Tik Tok stars became famous because of their realness or relatability (ahem, Charlie D'Amelio), many did. Anyone interesting or talented enough has a chance to go viral and build an audience on there. And that includes body positivity advocates, activists of all sorts, scholars, performance artists, poets, artists, and writers - like myself - which the platform is now full of.

I've started Tik Tok at the end of last year, and today I have an audience of over 150k people. I use the app similarly to the way I use Vocal and Medium - it's a place to share my experiences, stories, and opinions.

And this is what I believe people want to see after years of looking at curated aesthetics and impossibly glamorous lives.

Real people, with their real stories.

Uncensored. Unapologetic. Honest.

Final thoughts

With Instagram's recently announced change, it looks like many traditional influencers are heading for extinction if they aren't adaptable enough.

And honestly, I'm happy about it. I think the whole influencer industry has caused far too much stress, and it created many unrealistic expectations, particularly for younger generations. But we don't want to be told how to live, what to wear, and where to go anymore.

It's about time this industry caught up with speed or died a natural death.

And let's just hope the 'old' Instagram influencers won't be replaced by an equally shallow and talentless cohort of new ones. But maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part. Time will tell.

This story was originally published on Medium.