The Kardashians to Instagram: Stop trying to be TikTok

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UPDATE 7/29/2022 1:30 PM ET: Instagram reverses course on its controversial updates.

The Kardashians aren’t happy that Instagram keeps looking less like Instagram and more like TikTok with each new update.

Kylie Jenner is the second most followed person on Instagram with 360 million followers. She shared her concerns with them in a now-viral post.

Taking to her Stories, Kylie shared a user’s post that read, “Make Instagram Instagram again.” It continued, “(Stop trying to be TikTok I just want to see cute photos of my friends.) Sincerely, everyone.”

The post, which was also shared by her sister, Kim Kardashian, has gotten over 1.1 million likes, and nearly 150,000 people have signed the associated Change.org petition.

Kylie thinks Instagram is copying TikTok

Apparently, the Kardashians aren’t alone in their push for a return to the good old days of Instagram as a photo-sharing app.

For instance, Instagram feeds now show more Reels, and posts are recording lower engagement. Reels are short-form videos that are extremely similar to videos found on TikTok. Meta wants a piece of the action and has been pushing Reels for a while.

The company now rewards creators who make Reels with cash bonuses while downranking videos reposted from TikTok. Tapping on Reels in Instagram now launches full-screen short-form videos. Swiping up will show you even more Reels.

This, combined with the recent news that nearly all videos posted to IG will automatically become Reels, shows Meta’s desperation to be TikTok.

And the Kardashians aren’t having it. The billionaires rely heavily on Instagram to promote their businesses.

Will their voices be heard?

With 360 million followers, Kylie has more followers than the US has citizens. Her sister, Kim Kardashian, has 326 million followers. Millions have liked the post, and 150,000 signatures are being collected on Change.org.

But will Instagram budge? In 2018, Kylie also complained about a Snapchat redesign. By the next day, Snap’s stock lost nearly $1.3 billion in value.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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