when all apps start to function similarly.

Opening Instagram used to be like leafing through a bright, sunny scrapbook. You would browse among artistically frothed lattes, meticulously framed sunsets, and occasionally a pet dressed for Halloween. A three-minute culinary lesson, an odd dance challenge, a "duet" in which someone responds to another video, and—wait, was that a shopping advertisement?

Instagram stopped being Instagram at some point. And the most recent upgrade was the decisive factor for a lot of users.


Excellent app convergence

It goes beyond Instagram. According to several tech journalists, social networking platforms are experiencing "The Great App Convergence," which is the gradual blending of functionalities until all apps feel the same. The Reels format from TikTok is being imitated by Instagram. Instagram-style still photo postings are being tested by TikTok. Shorts is now available on YouTube. Videos can be seen in the "For You" stream on X (previously Twitter). Stories and informal video clips have even been contributed by LinkedIn.

Do any platforms retain their identities if they all perform the same function?


From For You Pages to Filters

The change in identity has been most noticeable for Instagram. When the app first came released in 2010, it was just a straightforward photo-sharing platform with artistic filters and clear graphics that stood out from Facebook's confusion. In contrast to today's feed, it was slow-paced, curated, and aspirational.

Instagram's 2016 introduction of Stories, which imitated Snapchat's disappearing content, marked the beginning of the shift. The 2020 release followed, which was a direct reaction to TikTok's rapidly growing popularity. Some users are questioning why they should even open the app after the most recent upgrade, which prioritizes algorithmically generated "suggested content" over updates from those they actually follow.


The fact that everything is TikTok-ified

The convergence has a straightforward cause: TikTok altered the rules of the game. User expectations have changed as a result of its finely refined recommendation system, infinite scrolling, and addictive nature. Apps are no longer opened to see how pals are doing. For amusement, they open them. These days, platforms vie for your attention rather than your social life.

The issue? Platforms like Instagram run the risk of losing the very audiences that made them famous by trying to emulate TikTok's success.


The Aspect of Nostalgia

Real Instagram nostalgia is fostering a tiny but expanding counterculture on the platform. The "casual posting" that resembles the Instagram of 2014—blurry midnight photographs, filthy remarks, and poorly filtered snapshots of daily life—is replacing the heavily edited videos and influencer-perfect look.

Because it was slower, more intimate, and less focused on pursuing viral events, the original Instagram felt genuine to these users. "I miss when Instagram was just coffee cups, books, and your friend's vacation in Greece," says one well-liked post. I now need to overcome someone who shows me fifty different ways to poach an egg.

Makers Trapped in the Center

Conversion is a double-edged sword for small businesses and influencers. If makers adopt TikTok's fast-paced, trend-driven style, reels can reach a huge new audience. This entails continuously creating faster, shorter, and more interactive information.

To capitalize on the algorithmic trend, some people have embraced it and submit several reels per day. Others claim that it stifles their creative voice and is exhausting. A frustrated user wrote, "I started my account to share photography." "I feel like I have to do voiceovers or dance now just to get noticed."


Crisis of Platform Identity

The leadership of Instagram is actually in a difficult position. They run the danger of losing younger consumers to TikTok if they don't prepare. However, they always get the same answer when they duplicate TikTok: We liked you better in the past.

This issue affects the entire business, not just Instagram. Customers start making choices based more on convenience and habit than brand loyalty when all platforms provide the same combination of shopping, advertising, and video entertainment.

Where does it go from here?

The pendulum will eventually swing back, according to some analysts. Strongly distinctive niche platforms can reappear once the novelty of Reels and TikTok clones fades. Some people think that convergence is here to stay and that social media will eventually be a massive, mixed feed of content with only the logo in the corner separating apps.

The best thing many people can do in the interim is to organize their feeds: remove profiles they don't like, use "close friends" lists for postings that are more intimate, and perhaps even delete the old VSCO account for those pure photo vibes.


A Silent Uprising

Small acts of revolt are spreading in the meantime. Users are purposefully using the Valencia filter to post hazy brunch images. Friends are reintroducing lengthy, journal-style captions. Some even set up "Instagram nostalgia challenges," in which participants post for a week as if it were 2013.

It serves as a reminder that although platforms are subject to change, we still have control over how users interact with them—at least until the next update comes out and all the buttons work again.