Instagram is halting its plans to make its social media platform more like heavyweight rival TikTok after criticism from users including mega-influencers Kim Kardashian and half-sister Kylie Jenner.
Instagram, which is owned by Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms, has rolled out plans to change its algorithm so that users are exposed to more video content from people outside their circle of friends and followers.
Meta is under pressure to perform after Facebook reported losing users for the first time this year. The company also reported a drop in sales for the first time in its history.
“I’m glad we took a risk – if we don’t fail every once in a while, we’re not thinking big enough or daring enough,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri told Platformer.
“But we definitely need to take a big step back and regroup. [When] we learned a lot, then we come back with some kind of new idea or iteration. So we’re going to work on that.”
Jenner and Kardashian, who together have 686 million users on Instagram, posted a message to the photo-sharing app earlier this week that read: “Make Instagram Instagram Again. Stop trying to be TikTok. I just want nice pictures of see my friends. Best regards, everyone.”
Jenner, the model, social media influencer and cosmetics entrepreneur, has 360 million followers on Instagram, while Kardashian, the reality TV star and businesswoman, has 326 million followers.
Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo is the only person with more Instagram followers (470 million) than Jenner.
Instagram tried to make changes to its platform to attract younger users who might be inclined to flock to TikTok.
The app wants almost all video posts under 15 minutes to be automatically shared in the Reels format. That means that according to CreativeBloq there will be no difference between Reels and video posts.
Instagram also planned to let people use all public posts in their own roles. Prior to the planned change, users could only remix Reels.
While Facebook and Instagram have historically connected people with content produced by their friends, video-based TikTok relies on algorithmic signals and viral content to show viewers highly engaging posts, without relying on anyone’s network of friends or connections.
The Kardashian-Jenner clan has a lot of influence on social media. According to Insider, Snap’s stock fell more than 8% in 2018 after Jenner tweeted that she stopped using Snapchat because she didn’t like the app’s redesign.
At the time, Snap lost more than $1 billion in market value.
Meta is revamping its social media platforms in hopes of replicating the success of TikTok, the ByteDance video sharing app with a user base of 655.9 million people worldwide.
TikTok has grown at lightning speed in recent years. Analysts expect ad revenue to overtake YouTube by 2024. Last year, it generated more ad revenue than Snapchat.