The Future of Instagram
People cannot get off their social media accounts. One of the purest examples of this is Instagram. The allure of Instagram is the idyllic images and their stories that exhibit short length temporary clips. Journalists have turned to Instagram to provide news content.
With people shifting away from television and radio, Instagram joined the mix of news producing to compete with other social media platforms. Instagram’s vast audience mixes well with their signature features to be an effective news provider.
In the coming years Instagram’s impact on new will continue to increase. The swift nature of Instagram makes it a reliable news source. Instagram should continue to build off their stories and images to create more features that are friendly to news.
Another feature that complements news sharing are the Instagram reels. Reels are video compilations of short clips that help better cover a story. Like television, Instagram has the upper hand over other social media platforms in terms of sights and sounds. People go to Instagram for the purpose of finding memorable images. It’s a perfect match.
From year 2018 to 2020 the Reuters Institute Digital News report showed the increased usage of Instagram for news doubled. This trend is only the beginning for Instagram as a news producer.
The downside of Instagram is the lack of deep written content. The social media platform that is most designed for written news is Twitter. To edit that weakness, Instagram can go one of two ways. It can try to add features that are friendly to encourage written news content. The other option is going all in on pushing the Instagram model of news sharing. Continue to expand on image and video sharing that the lack of print content will not matter.
With competing media platforms, it is essential for journalists to continue to prioritize Instagram because of its visual appeal and enduring images.
As Senior Research Associate Nic Newman stated about Instagram, “They really respond well to stories that are told simply and well with visual images.”
With so much going for it, Instagram it seems it’s going to be here for a while.
