Is discovery & community building around photos a thing of the past?
It will be if a new social media platform doesn’t emerge. But what about apps like Instagram? Isn’t Instagram getting better and better for discovery and community building around photos?
Instagram might’ve been good for discovery and community when they first started out (when Instagram was more independent)… but now, under Facebook’s full control, Instagram has morphed into what many describe as a blend of Facebook and Snapchat. I guess, what happened was Facebook was losing appeal with the younger generation as more and more young people in the US were using Snapchat. And after Snapchat went public, Snapchat became even more of a threat to Facebook, but the problem Facebook had when attempting to compete with Snapchat was that most younger users weren’t on Facebook (they were on Instagram), so Facebook used Instagram as a way to better compete with Snapchat. And over the past few years, Facebook has slowly been integrating Facebook and Snapchat experiences into Instagram’s main platform, thus changing the way that people use Instagram, and changing Instagram’s long-term strategies and priorities to be more about friends and family use cases, and less about community building and discovery.
It all started with the Home feed algorithm. In June 2016, Instagram switched from a strictly reverse chronological news feed to a new, algorithm-based feed. Before introducing an algorithm, Instagram had a chronological Home feed, which favored users who value building community around their interests. For example, with a chronological feed, when a user posts an image, all of that user’s followers (who are on the app at that time) would see that user’s image at the top of their chronological Home feed. With the chronological Home feed, people tend to be more particular about who they choose to follow, which makes community building feel more authentic and the user feel more in control. However, the introduction of the Instagram Home feed algorithm changed all of that.
Similar to Facebook’s algorithm, Instagram’s Home feed algorithm is designed to favor friends, family and celebrities. But it’s not good for people who want to build community around their interests. The Instagram algorithm has left tons of users in despair, to say the least, as many of their followers have been missing their posts, and over the years, as the Instagram algorithm (and social graph) became more and more about “friends and family”, it has become increasingly more difficult on Instagram to have a public presence around photos and to build community around interests. That is, unless you’re one of the few lucky celebrities or influencers that Instagram continues to pay special attention to, which in that case, the algorithm will still favor you. So, basically Instagram, under Facebook’s control, decided to dictate which of your followers get to see your posts.
Not to mention, people did figure out how to hack the Instagram Home feed algorithm, which prioritizes posts that have more comments, and users started adding fake comments to posts to rank up a bit higher on people’s feeds, which made the culture around public sharing even more fake and less authentic.
And all of this happened right before Instagram finally introduced… Instagram Stories in October 2016. And Snapchat-like disappearing messages in November 2016. I couldn’t believe it when I heard it. Not like I’m against it. But, stories are typically more interesting between close friends. Which means only one thing. Yes, that’s right. Instagram’s social graph was about to change.
And so it did. Instagram’s suggested users started to show me my friends and family from Facebook. And from my phone’s contacts. That’s right, they knew my Facebook account, and instead of showing me more new people to follow who shared my same interests, instead I was seeing my Facebook friends, my family, my co-workers, my siblings, my uncles, my aunts, etc. And how can you not connect with your friends and family? Especially when they follow you on Instagram? Don’t you want to follow them back? And see photos of your cute niece and nephew? Photos from the last family event? And there you have it… the social graph on Instagram changed from the interest-based community it once was… to what it is today… friends and family. Just like Facebook and Snapchat.
But, with the new social graph being around friends and family, and the algorithm favoring friends, family and celebrities, users who have been trying to use Instagram for public expression have been struggling. And, in May 2016, Instagram announced the launch of new tools for business accounts, including new business profiles, Insights analytics and the ability to turn posts into ads directly from the Instagram app itself. In the last few years, as Instagram’s user experience, social graph and algorithms continued to shift even more towards friends and family, more and more people have been relying on business accounts to maintain a public presence. Essentially, Instagram has made it so that users who want to have (or even just maintain) a public presence, need to reluctantly pay money to Instagram through a business account, similar to how it works on Facebook.
But the problem is, many people need to keep paying Instagram money on a regular basis if they want to maintain a public presence. This is because the friends and family algorithm and social graph is not going away. It simply can’t go away. Once you make stories the dominant way to share and once the social graph is friends and family, there is NO going back. And many of your followers will continue to miss your posts each day, unless you pay Instagram money. Which really sucks for people who just want to use Instagram to build community for fun (and not for business).
Moreover, for all of the aspiring creators and influencers who are hoping to collaborate with brands and celebrities on their marketing campaigns… well too bad. Instagram’s essentially competing with you on that. That is, Instagram either wants you to pay them money through a business account (to give them a cut of the money you get from brands), or they want brands to pay them money directly by spending more of their marketing budget on Instagram ads. And it seems like story ads will be the preferred choice since according to Facebook’s long-term strategy, stories from close friends will dominate in the near future.
In recent months, some people have even resorted to quitting Instagram altogether for public expression and they are now looking for alternative platforms. Check out this video by Caya.
These problems have been getting worse and worse. But, these are problems Instagram is okay with, well, because Instagram’s new strategy has been making Facebook more competitive against Snapchat. But, it’s not like Instagram’s old way, which favored an interest-based social graph, was wrong. It’s just that Instagram’s parent company, Facebook, can’t lose to Snapchat, and if Facebook isn’t attracting Gen Z, they need to compete with what is.
In conclusion, Instagram today is not the same as it was 3 years ago. The social graph on Instagram has changed. The user experience has changed. And the long-term strategy for the company has changed. People who want to build community and new friendships around their interests and who want to share photos publicly to entertain or inspire others, are going to have to find a new platform for that. It may not be as apparent to some users yet, but it will only become more and more apparent as Instagram continues to become more and more like Facebook and Snapchat, thus making it increasingly more difficult to have a public presence around photos.
That’s why, the team and I at Dayflash, are stepping forward. We believe it should be easier to entertain or inspire the public through photos and short-videos — and form community and new friendships around interests. But, it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to do that on today’s photo sharing apps. And we believe that if we don’t step forward to make a difference, then the true potential of public photo sharing may never be met, and it’ll become increasingly more difficult to have a public presence around photos and short-videos.
More specifically, we see…
- A future where users don’t have to pay money (through a business account) to have a public presence around photos.
- A future where a company isn’t using an algorithm to dictate which followers get to see their posts.
- A future where it’s easier to build community around your interests and make new friends.
- A future where users feel appreciated and valued by a community of people who share their same interests, and therefore empowered to do more of what they love to do.
That’s why, with Dayflash, we created a free photo and video sharing application and an AI-powered social networking platform that unlocks the full potential of public self-expression for the next generation of mobile users. We’re empowering the next generation to entertain or inspire others, to be discovered, create new connections, and stay connected.
But, we can’t do this alone. We need your support. We need to create a movement to protect the future of public expression and community around photos.
Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world have joined our platform so far. Not only do users value the unique purpose that we’re bringing to market, which is around public expression and community. But they also value the unique combination of experiences that we’re introducing to photo sharing.
For instance, we’ve invented a unique fullscreen photo display format that can make your photos look more compelling than on any other mobile photo sharing app. Users really like how Dayflash makes their photos look.
Next, we’ve invented a faster and more immersive way to like and view photos on your feed.
Also, people really like the chronological Home feed on Dayflash. Many of them hate the Instagram Home feed algorithm, which is designed to favor friends, family and celebrities, and causes them to miss posts from many of the people they follow. They value that Dayflash has a chronological Home feed, and that we don’t dictate which followers get to see their posts.
And finally, we’re introducing a new way to connect people using AI and keywords. On Dayflash, we don’t have hashtags. Instead, when users sign up, they can add keywords to their account. Keywords describe themselves, their content, their interests, and many people add their geolocation or school. We then use machine learning and keywords to connect people through suggested users and Explore. Many people have gripes with hashtags for a number of reasons (i.e. shadow banning, etc.), and they value that Dayflash has eliminated the need for hashtags, and replaced it with a faster and more fun way to share, discover and connect.
The team and I at Dayflash are aiming to make a difference in the world of public photo sharing by introducing a social networking platform that is leading the category of public photo sharing and community around interests. If you value sharing photos to entertain or inspire the public, and to form community and new friendships around your interests, then join our movement today, and help make the world of public photo sharing a bigger and brighter place.
