Annoyed that Instagram’s shopping craze has pushed the “new post” button to the corner? You are not alone. Instagram has unveiled a Home screen refresh expected in February that splits the Shop tab and moves the Create button back to the center of the bottom navigation bar. This in turn moves the Reels tab to the side.
The social network’s Adam Mosseri added in a video that shopping will continue to exist in your feed, reels, stories and ads. There just won’t be a dedicated section for it. The section typically offers targeted recommendations to encourage shopping beyond the usual mid-feed offerings.
Instagram began testing the new design in September. In a video announcing the launch, Mosseri characterized the refresh as an attempt to “simplify” the service and focus on connecting people to “the things they love.” Insta remembers that it’s a social network, let’s put it bluntly.
However, the change may also be part of a larger shift in strategy. As The Verge notes, The Information claims to have seen an internal memo in September that indicated Instagram would be scaling back many of its shopping features. Instead, the site will focus on commercial efforts that are “more directly tied” to ad revenue. Simply put, the push to shop doesn’t seem to have helped — it would have boosted the Meta’s bottom line as it pivots to the metaverse.
There is also the matter of competition. TikTok, the inspiration behind many of Instagram’s features, still has a prominent “new post” button. This placement is no guarantee of success, of course, but this platform continues to thrive despite Instagram. There were about 1.64 billion monthly active users as of October, according to data from Data.ai. Rethinking Instagram can encourage more posts, not to mention give future converts a more familiar experience.
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