Instagram’s upcoming changes have caused a cacophony of complaints online, with many influencers feeling the platform is punishing the underdog. But leading media members feel the changes will restructure the app rather than ruin it.
Instagram’s most recent development will see it adapt an algorithm-style view setting, one similar to its big brother (and owner) Facebook. The change has reportedly been made in response to Instagram’s decrease in post engagement last year. The new approach will allow for much greater increase in revenue, by dictating what content (including advertising) users see in their personal feeds, as opposed to presenting it in chronological order.
While the changes may have come to a shock for users, Adnews editor Rosie Baker says it’s no surprise to the digital world that Facebook is attempting to replicate its successful advertising model on its 2012 $US1 billion purchase: “In the fourth quarter of 2015, $US5.64 billion of Facebook's $US5.8bn revenue came from advertising globally. That is a lot. It's a dominant force and it has a huge impact on the ecosystem for media, content producers and advertising, and now it's going to try to replicate that success on Instagram.”
Tribe founder Jules Lund spoke to AdNews about the developments, saying he believes influencers will continue to succeed as long as they shift their focus to engagement rather than audience size. They now have greater opportunity for engagement, as long as they continue to produce quality content. “Influencers will now be rewarded for their engagement, not their audience size. And since citizen influencers with less than 100,000 [followers] attract higher engagement than celebrity influencers, the most effective campaigns will be those made up of dozens of micro influencers rather than one big one.
“Now that it’s a game of engagement, you’re only as valuable as your last post, so stop collecting followers, and focus on engaging the ones you’ve got. And beware, that if you throw up a crap post because you haven’t done one that day, your average will be penalised.”
