Instagram is making several new changes focused on creators in its platform, which Instagram CEO Adam Moseri said was aimed at “making sure the credit goes to those who deserve it.”
The new stuff consists of three changes: product labels are now available to everyone, so you can tag a product in your post; you can fall into a category such as “Photographer” or “Rapper” and display this category every time you are tagged in a post; and Instagram will start promoting original content on the platform more strongly.
“If you create something from scratch,” Moseri said in a video explaining the new features, “you should get more credit than if you re-share something you’ve found from someone else. We will try to do more to try and appreciate more original content, especially compared to re-published content. “Evaluating original content is not new, of course, but Moseri said Instagram will lean more. in this way.
Translation? Please, please, stop just posting your favorite TikToks in Reels. we beg you.
New features
We’ve added new ways to tag and improved our rankings:
– Product labels – Improved labels – Ranking for originality
Creators are so important to the future of Instagram and we want to make sure they are successful and get all the credit they deserve. pic.twitter.com/PP7Qa10oJr
– Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) April 20, 2022
Meta has made it clear that it sees Facebook and Instagram as platforms focused on future creators, not as tools to connect people with their friends. So both platforms have invested in shopping tools, ways for creators to build an audience, and many other things that they hope will entice creators to stop being TikTokers and YouTubers and start being Instagrammers and Facebookers.
Reels, in particular, are central to this effort. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the short videos “our fastest growing content format” and they are now available on Facebook and Instagram. But anyone who uses Reels knows that it can feel like a TikTok clone, often with the same content that has just been republished – the TikTok logo and everything else – elsewhere. One way Instagram demotivates this practice? Bury him in the rankings. And that’s exactly what Moseri plans to do.
As for the way Instagram will determine what is considered original, Moseri said only that it is difficult and “we will repeat in time.” The change is likely to be a huge problem for aggregator accounts, many of which are extremely popular sources of memes and trends, but are often accused of stealing content and credit from creators. “As we focus more on recommendations, it’s becoming increasingly important not to overestimate aggregators,” Moseri tweeted, “because that would be bad for the creators and therefore bad for Instagram in the long run.”
Clicking on original content on Meta’s social products is nothing new, nor is the fact that the most popular things on Facebook and Instagram tend to be plagiarized. Meta platforms have the largest audience, but TikTok, Twitter and others are usually the place to create new memes and trends. If Instagram and Facebook want to be successful platforms for creators, they will have to find a way to reverse this. And starting with turning its most powerful knob – the ranking algorithm that decides what billions of people see every day – is a pretty serious first move. Another idea would be to pay more to the creators, but given that Meta seems to be reducing Reels’ payouts, this may not come soon.
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