Sarah Frier documents how Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom wanted Instagram to be an outlet for artists (in a high-school essay, Systrom wrote that he liked how photography could “inspire others to look at the world in a new way”).

And

Click on Instagram today and you will still see plenty of photos, but you’ll also be confronted with a carousel of short, vertical videos (known as “Reels”) as well as the more-than-occasional ad. In his video, Mosseri explained that “the number one reason people say that they use Instagram in research is to be entertained” and the app was going to “lean into that trend” by experimenting with video. Citing TikTok and YouTube as competition, Mosseri said Instagram would “embrace video” and users could expect a number of changes in the coming months.

I use Instagram, I don’t see much of the work of “creatives” ’cause I don’t follow any. I do see an increasing number of adverts and have hated the changes like algorithmic photo order, lack of linking and locked down API.

Almost everyone I follow on Instagram I have met. It is the only place I follow relatives. I’d love to be able to follow then in micro.blog or some other nicer place. Interoperability please.