Instagram plans to “double down” on the competition with TikTok, the world’s most visited site, by further promoting video content, inventing new ways for content providers to profit from their work, including the launch of subscriptions. By focusing down on video content, Instagram hopes to give TikTok a run for its money.

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri shared a video on Twitter outlining some of the important initiatives the social media network will pursue this year, with a focus on video content and safety controls. In terms of video, the CEO claims that Instagram would “consolidate all of our video products around Reels and continue to expand that product,” presumably in response to TikTok’s tremendous success and a desire to cash in on the trend.

In terms of the safety restrictions, Mosseri noted that many Instagram users are concerned about how their feeds are curated, as well as the impact Instagram has on mental health as a whole. After discussing a few modifications made in 2021, such as sensitive content filters, masking like counts, and using ways to hide certain words in chat, he stated that the team will focus on improving the service’s controls while also enhancing transparency for its users. “We think it’s important that people understand how Instagram works if they’re going to shape it into what they want or what’s best for them,” he added.

Now this all sounds great, but if we’re being real, I don’t think that Instagram stands a chance against TikTok. As a millennial who has fully made the move from Instagram to TikTok as my preferred social media platform, I have been going weeks without so much as opening Instagram.

Instagram is losing traction with Gen-Z as well as some millennials and that’s because the 2D static format of images is outdated, and TikTok is simply easier for uploading videos. A common joke on TikTok is how Reels are so far behind, where trends come and go, Reels tend to be the “fake” TikToks and week old trends only surface later on Instagram.

It is great for Instagram to try to catch up and join in on the competition with TikTok, but with TikTok being one of the most popular social media platforms at the moment, this seems to be a very hard milestone to achieve.

In related news, Instagram is bringing back the chronological feed and will also explore NFTs.

Photo via Flick