So if you have been paying attention to social media news recently you have probably seen a lot of people asking “Is Instagram Dead?” Or at least that is what everyone using the platform is predicting. For those of you not paying attention to social media news, let me catch you up…no, no, there is too much…let me sum up.

Instagram is dead because Instagram is trying to copy/be like TikTok. Therefore it is giving more priority to video content than it is to still images.

It is not the first time something like this has happened. In 2017 Instagram copied Snapchat by introducing “stories” which I will admit I think Instagram did better than Snapchat. Then in 2018 Facebook tried to turn Instagram into another version of Facebook and started prioritizing ad spending over natural account growth. This meant if you were not willing to spend ad money with Instagram your account was not going to grow or get engagement. Now in 2022 with the rise in popularity of Tiktok, Instagram is once again trying to copy the cool kid, instead of having its own unique style and presence.

Now, why is this a problem you might ask…Well for one thing Instagram was founded on the idea of posting photos. Photographers of every kind made Instagram popular for what it is today. Ignoring where you came from, and worse ignoring the people who helped make you is a terrible thing for any person, business, or social media platform. It alienates your core base user group in favor of a new, younger, hip user. But here is some harsh truth to anyone reading this…Companies have been doing this for years. Think back to internet providers, cell phone companies, insurance companies ect. They are ALWAYS having promos for NEW clients. “Sign up now and get 50% off your first order!” or “Switch today and your first two months are on us!” or “Buy this month and get this nifty service absolutely free!” Every single one of us has heard these kinds of sales pitches before because companies don’t usually care about you after you’ve signed up.

When was the last time you heard of a company offering a promo, special, or offer to customers who have been with them for 10 years? How often has a company called you up and said something like “Hey we see in our records that you have been doing business with us for 5 years so we would like to say thank you by paying for your next month of service?” It does not happen because business owners focus WAY too much on new business rather than existing business.

I recently worked for a company where the CEO was a perfect example of this mentality. He would sign any contract, make any deal, and say anything to anyone (including lying) if it meant closing a new business deal. Meanwhile, he largely ignored and neglected his main base customers.

Instagram is dead because they are doing this exact same thing.

Now, that being said what can be done about it?

Nothing! Natta! Zippo!

Harsh I know, but the reality is there really isn’t anything we can do. We the people do not own Instagram or Facebook, and therefore we can beat our chest and scream our opinions and they will mean absolutely nothing. We have to accept that Instagram is changing because we don’t pay for Instagram. Perhaps it would be different if we all paid some sort of subscription fee to the platform, and Instagram’s profit was tied into those subscriptions, but that is not the case.

So how do we get our content out there? What app do we go to? Is there an Instagram alternative?

As long as you share your content on FREE platforms you will always be subject to the changes that platform makes. However, if you choose to share your content on your own website you will ALWAYS have control over how your content is shared. Now let me be clear I am not advocating for you to leave Instagram. I still have an Instagram and plan to continue to share content there, but I don’t count on Instagram’s FREE model to EVER work in my favor or interest. Even its paid options are not very reliable. But I do count on my website to always have the content I want because I created it and shared it the way I wanted to.

That being said if you would like to follow my social media platforms check out My Patreon, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, and YouTube.