The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Instagram knows you don’t like its changes. It doesn’t care.

A quick succession of new features and tests has left even the app’s most loyal users, including Kim Kardashian, wondering what Instagram is for

July 27, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. EDT
(Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)
6 min

In recent years, Instagram has rolled out a flurry of updates as it has sought to become an e-commerce powerhouse, messaging app, and, last summer, a short-form video discovery platform, along the lines of TikTok.

Now this public identity crisis is bleeding into its user base.

On Tuesday morning, Instagram head Adam Mosseri appeared in full damage-control mode. Facing the camera and wearing a bright yellow sweater, he attempted to quash a growing revolt from some of Instagram’s most prominent users.