06 // The end of Instagram.
January 19, 2025.
Instagram has been conducting tests on their mobile platform, and users are slightly confused but know that things usually revert back. However, today was different.
For as long as I can remember, Instagram has been a photo-first platform. With the release of the short-form content app called "TikTok," Instagram added "Reels," which are also short-form videos but within Instagram.
Users were naturally not very happy with this decision, as Instagram was viewed as the place for photographers in the creative space.
Over time, people got used to Reels and began creating them as part of their content.
As Instagram Reels grew, Instagram decided to focus on them more and more. One of the ways they chose to do this was by changing one of the parts of Instagram we all knew and loved the most.
The grid.
Instagram has always had a 1 x 1 formatted grid. Some people would create images that connected seamlessly on their grid; some would even do entire art projects in separate images making up one large image.
With the rise of their short-form content, however, Instagram decided to change the 1 x 1 grid to a 4 x 5 grid. This change shocked all the users of Instagram.
On day one, I thought this was just something they were testing, and I had no doubts that it would be gone by the next day.
Little did I know I was so wrong. Every day I waited for it to change, as all of the users of Instagram were irritated by this change, but it didn't change.
And so today, the 1 x 1 grid we all knew Instagram for is gone. Forever.
Until the next update, at least; who knows what they'll do next.
(PS: It was irritating to me but didn't really affect my grid much)
-SD
January 19, 2025.
Instagram has been conducting tests on their mobile platform, and users are slightly confused but know that things usually revert back. However, today was different.
For as long as I can remember, Instagram has been a photo-first platform. With the release of the short-form content app called "TikTok," Instagram added "Reels," which are also short-form videos but within Instagram.
Users were naturally not very happy with this decision, as Instagram was viewed as the place for photographers in the creative space.
Over time, people got used to Reels and began creating them as part of their content.
As Instagram Reels grew, Instagram decided to focus on them more and more. One of the ways they chose to do this was by changing one of the parts of Instagram we all knew and loved the most.
The grid.
Instagram has always had a 1 x 1 formatted grid. Some people would create images that connected seamlessly on their grid; some would even do entire art projects in separate images making up one large image.
With the rise of their short-form content, however, Instagram decided to change the 1 x 1 grid to a 4 x 5 grid. This change shocked all the users of Instagram.
On day one, I thought this was just something they were testing, and I had no doubts that it would be gone by the next day.
Little did I know I was so wrong. Every day I waited for it to change, as all of the users of Instagram were irritated by this change, but it didn't change.
And so today, the 1 x 1 grid we all knew Instagram for is gone. Forever.
Until the next update, at least; who knows what they'll do next.
(PS: It was irritating to me but didn't really affect my grid much)
-SD