Instagram Wants To Normalize Full-Screen Posts On Your Home Feed
Video screenshot via Adam Mosseri
The old Instagram days of square-shaped photos are slowly slipping away. The social network is now testing “taller photos and taller videos” on select users’ home feeds, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced on Wednesday.
Mosseri explained in a video posted on Twitter that some users will start seeing both photos and videos that take up “more of your screen.” A screenshot shared at that moment depicts a 9:16 post that occupies most of the display, mimicking TikTok’s ‘For You’ page.
The experiment is undoubtedly another move by Instagram to take on TikTok, which it decided a while ago was its direct competitor when it rolled out TikTok clone Reels. Last month, the Meta-owned app declared that reposts will be demoted, a possible reaction to the flood of TikTok videos that have been appearing on its platform.
As TechCrunch reports, although the screen capture doesn’t display the Stories thumbnails usually located at the top, a spokesperson assured the publication that the Stories row will remain in the same spot. What’s being shown is a home feed that’s scrolled down to demonstrate what these taller posts might look like, they explained.
📣 Testing Feed Changes 📣
— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) May 3, 2022
We’re testing a new, immersive viewing experience in the main Home feed.
If you’re in the test, check it out and let me know what you think. 👇🼠pic.twitter.com/dmM5RzpicQ
The test for vertical photos and videos follows Meta’s reveal at an earnings call that Reels take up 20% of the time users spend on Instagram.
“We know the future of video and the future of photos are mobile-first,” said Mosseri in the video.
Mosseri said Instagram is gauging users’ interest in the vertical displays through this experiment, and that the social network will be open to suggestions even if they “hate it.”
[via TechCrunch and Pocket-lint, video and cover image via Adam Mosseri]
