Instagram Crosses the 3 Billion user mark! Here come the updates...

 

Instagram Reaches 3-Billion+ users and Launches a New User-Interface.

Instagram has now become Meta's third user app to breach the 3 BILLION user mark, with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announcing IG as the latest to cross the record-setting user mark.

Both Zuckerberg and Instagram boss Adam Mosseri have made announcements about the milestone, which once again re-establishes Meta as the King of the heap in social media apps, with Facebook, WhatsApp and now Instagram clearly leading the way in overall usage.

It's difficult to overstate the gravity of that number. We talk about user count metrics so often that what they actually mean often becomes meaningless, but 3 billion users equates to more than one third of all the humans in existence, who are logging in to the app each month. Now when you factor in that none of Meta's apps are available in China, the second-largest populous in the world, and many regions still don't have internet access, it's likely that more than half the people in the world that can access Instagram, do so regularly.

To celebrate this epic milestone, Intagram announced a few updates...

Firstly, Instagram is testing out a new feature that highlights the topics that you've been most engaging with in Reels, which you will then be able to edit to indicate to the app what you want to see more or less of.

Now, when you tap on the adjustment icon, you will be able to see a listing of topics that the Reels algorithm thinks that you like. You will then be able to add and remove topics and also exclude specific things that you don't like in the lower element. Reels then highlights the topics that you like seeing with new tags in-stream.

This could be a very valuable option to help optimise the Reels experience and to have more direct input into what you see. Of course, we'd expect that not that many people will actually use it, because for all the talk around algorithmic input, most people are now so used to just being shown what they like that they expect the algorithms to do the work for them, without the need for their own manual intervention.

But for those who want to stay in control
, they'll now have another option to do exactly that.

Reels is also the subject of this second update, which is a user-interface change relating to the lower bar icons, which Instagram hopes will make it easier to hop between the Home-feed, Reels and DMs from the main app home screen.

Instagram is updating its icons and moving the DM button from the top of the screen, to the bottom, so all three of the app's primary functions are easily accessible along that bottom function bar.

The create icon will be moved to the top left of the screen for all formats whilst the search icon will move slightly over to the right.

Now, these are some interesting updates, which could have a significant impact on how people use each element on a daily basis with the updated user-interface being more in-line with modern Instagram use.

Ultimately, Reels is now the star of the show.

For the longest time, we've expected Instagram to actually launch to Reels instead, given that Reels is now the most used element within the app, people are spending vastly more time viewing Reels. It actually did do this for the recently launched iPad app, and it is reportedly testing this in the main mobile app in some markets. But for now at least, Instagram is still sticking with its legacy user case for most users, in opening the home feed in the main app.

Though it may only be a matter of time, but at 3 billion users, they clearly know what they are doing, while Meta once again, demonstrates that it is the King of growing the most compulsive platforms.