The big problem with Instagram — it has several options but they are scattered all over the place, making our thumbs work overtime. The Facebook-owned company is experimenting with a new feature — though it’s too early to guarantee a release for it — that has a TikTok feel to it — Vertical Instagram Stories.
What we currently do is thumb through Stories using taps and horizontal swipes, which felt good in pre-TikTok era. But the troubled Chinese app got two things right — interface and algorithm. Instagram is betting big on Reels which is like being on TikTok but if Vertical Instagram Stories get implemented, then it will be a bigger move.
The feature was first spotted by developer Alessandro Paluzzi and then a company spokesperson confirmed it as “an early prototype and is not currently testing on Instagram” to TechCrunch.
If the feature does find a place on Instagram, it will replace the app’s current method of horizontally scrolling through Stories. It may not seem like a big move but look closely, it could be a major design addition.
With TikTok becoming a cultural phenomenon — like it or hate it! — there is no way Instagram can ignore the friendliness of the design. Facebook has been around way longer than TikTok and also Snapchat. Yet, look at the way the company managed big growth jumps. It got inspired by Snapchat to add Stories to Instagram and Facebook. But now Stories are so 2019. Next, Snapchat borrowed ideas from TikTok, an example being the Spotlight feature within the app — users can share short-form videos that are more in the territory of jokey. So why should Instagram be left out?!
What many find to be a problem with Instagram is how one needs to walk in the dark looking for features. Reels looks like a new user interface but it doesn’t have a seamless design. Then there is IGTV, which is a separate app. It’s all too much.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri recently told The Verge, “We’re looking about how we can — not just with IGTV, but across all of Instagram — simplify and consolidate ideas, because last year we placed a lot of new bets. I think this year we have to go back to our focus on simplicity and craft.”
Will simplifying end up Instagram look like TikTok? Only time can tell.