THE Kardashians are not fans of the new Instagram layout.
Kylie and Kim took to the social media app on Monday to take a swipe at a recent redesign that has ruffled the feathers of users worldwide.
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The pair called out the service for “trying to be TikTok” and demanded that Instagram reverse changes made to its feed.
The tweak to the app’s algorithm shows more content from people you don’t know and fewer posts from friends and family.
It’s perceived as an attempt to keep pace with Chinese rival TikTok, which has exploded in popularity in recent years.
The app’s meteoric rise is in part thanks to its capacity to feed users with a neverending stream of videos that it thinks they might like.
With Instagram struggling to keep up, parent company Meta has decided to fill the app’s feed with more videos and recommended content – just like TikTok.
Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian, two of Instagram’s biggest accounts with a combined 686million followers, aren’t taking the change lying down.
Kylie shared a screenshot of another user’s post on her Instagram Stories on Monday, taking aim at the unpopular redesign.
“Make Instagram Instagram again,” the post says.
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“(Stop trying to be tiktok i just want to see cute photos of my friends). Sincerely, everyone.”
Sister Kim shared the same post, which has racked up more than 1.1million likes.
The associated Change.org petition had over 140,000 signatures at the time of writing.
Following TikTok’s astronomical success, social media platforms have been trying to emulate its features.
Instagram and Snapchat, for example, have capped their video content in attempt to follow in TikTok’s footsteps.
Instagram has also been testing a full-screen home feed – one of the features that has helped to make TikTok popular.
In 2020, Meta launched a TikTok-style short video feature called Reels on Facebook and Instagram.
“TikTok’s success is a forcing function on the other social platforms,” Brendan Gahan, partner and chief social officer at Mekanism, told Wired earlier this year.
“They can’t ignore the phenomenal growth – it’s so big it may be the future of social.”
Users aren’t happy with the changes, with many arguing they liked Instagram the way that it was.
Following fierce backlash online, Instagram boss Adam Mosseri took to Twitter on Tuesday in an attempt to quell the dumpster fire.
“We’re experimenting with a number of different changes to the app,” the 39-year-old said in a statement. “And so we’re hearing a lot of concerns from all of you.
“This is a lot of change all at once, but know that a number of things about Instagram are going to stay the same.
“We’re going to stay committed to creators more broadly, we’re going to stay committed to supporting photos, we’re going to stay in a place where we try and put your friends’ content at the top of Feed and at the front of Stories whenever possible.”
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
