Why Instagram Had to Kill the Square Photo to Survive.
The Neighborhood Restaurant That Refused to Change Its Menu.
Imagine your favorite cozy neighborhood restaurant that only serves one classic, beloved dish. But then, a massive, vibrant food court opens next door with dozens of exciting options. Slowly, your neighbors start going there instead. The restaurant owner realizes that to keep the doors open, they can’t just serve that one perfect dish anymore. They have to add new, exciting items to the menu. That’s what Instagram did. The “square photo” was their classic dish, but TikTok and YouTube were the new food court. To compete and keep you there, they had to embrace full-screen video.
The Secret Memo: Adam Mosseri’s Plan to Stop Instagram from Becoming Irrelevant.
The Captain’s Log of a Ship Sailing into a Storm.
A ship captain sees a huge storm on the horizon—fierce competition. He knows that if he stays the current, comfortable course, the ship will slowly take on water and sink. So, he writes a memo to his crew: “We must take risks. Turn towards the storm, even if it’s scary. It’s better to face a few big waves and come out stronger than to do nothing and let the ocean swallow us whole.” This is Adam Mosseri’s plan. He’d rather push too hard on new features like Reels and get some backlash than play it safe and watch Instagram slowly fade away.
How I Used Instagram’s New Tool to Banish Content I Hate From My Feed.
Finally, a “Do Not Disturb” Sign for Your Brain.
For weeks, my feed was flooded with political content that stressed me out. I’d accidentally watch one Reel, and the algorithm thought I wanted a hundred more. It was draining. Then I found Instagram’s new “algorithm tuning” feature. It felt like hiring a personal assistant for my feed. I went into the settings and told it, “No more politics, please. But show me more about woodworking and travel.” Instantly, my feed felt like a relaxing escape again. It’s like telling your radio DJ exactly which songs you want to skip forever.
The 3-Question Filter Instagram Uses to Approve (or Kill) Every New Feature.
The Bouncer at the World’s Most Exclusive Club.
Imagine a new feature is a person trying to get into an exclusive club called “Instagram.” The bouncer at the door stops them and asks three questions. First: “Are you here to help people connect or create?” Second: “Are you interesting and new, or are you going to make a real difference for millions?” And third: “Are you just going to be more noise and make this club too crowded and confusing?” If the feature can’t give a resounding “yes” to the first two and a “no” to the last one, it gets turned away at the door.
Why Instagram Willingly Loses Engagement on Purpose (And Why You Should Too).
The Farmer Planting an Orchard Instead of a Vegetable Patch.
A farmer has a small plot of land. He could plant fast-growing vegetables and sell them for a quick profit this season. Or, he could plant an apple orchard. The orchard will take years to grow and won’t make him any money right away—in fact, it’s a loss. But in five years, it will produce a massive, sustainable harvest for decades. Instagram does this by prioritizing original creators over viral repost accounts. It hurts engagement now (quick profit), but they believe it will build a loyal, creative community that pays off for years (the orchard).
The Real Reason Instagram Finally Built an iPad App (It’s Not What You Think).
Building a Movie Theater for People Who Love TV Shows.
Imagine you run a popular TV network. You notice your audience watches short shows on their phones during the day, but at night, they want to sit on the couch and watch longer movies on a big screen. An iPad is like that big screen. People use it for longer, more relaxed viewing sessions. Instagram realized Reels and videos were becoming their “movies.” So they built the iPad app not just as a bigger phone app, but as a dedicated “movie theater” for a Reels-first experience, perfectly matching how people already use their tablets.
I “Hard Reset” My Instagram Algorithm. Here’s the Terrifying Result.
Erasing a Personal Shopper’s Memory of You.
Imagine you’ve had a personal shopper for years. They know you love vintage jackets and hate skinny jeans. Then one day, you tell them, “Forget everything you know about me.” The next time you see them, they hand you a random assortment of clothes—things you’d never wear. That’s what hitting the “hard reset” button felt like. My feed, once perfectly curated, became a chaotic mess of generic, uninteresting content. It was like meeting a stranger. It made me realize how much the algorithm, for all its faults, actually knew me and was trying to help.
The $10 Billion Creator Economy Instagram Doesn’t Control.
The Food Court That Doesn’t Own the Restaurants.
Think of Instagram as a massive, popular food court. It provides the space, the tables, and brings in millions of hungry customers every day. But it doesn’t own most of the restaurants inside. The creators are the restaurant owners. They make brand deals and sell their products directly to the customers walking by. Instagram isn’t taking a cut of that sale; they just built the mall where the transaction happens. That’s the $10 billion+ economy—creators making their own money, using Instagram as the venue, without the platform taking a piece of that specific pie.
Why Instagram Can’t Figure Out How to Pay Creators Like YouTube Does.
A Supermarket vs. a Movie Theater.
YouTube is like a movie theater. You watch one long movie (a video), and they can easily show you an ad before it starts and give the filmmaker a cut of your ticket price. It’s a simple, direct transaction. Instagram is like a giant, fast-paced supermarket. You’re quickly grabbing dozens of different items (photos, Reels, Stories) off the shelves. It’s much harder to stop you at every aisle and say, “This ad is for the person who made that bag of chips,” and then figure out how to split a penny with them.
The Real Reason You Only Got a $9 Check from Instagram.
The Tip Jar for a 100-Person Band.
Imagine a band with 100 musicians is playing in a massive stadium. At the end of the night, the stadium owner throws a handful of cash into a giant tip jar for them. The problem isn’t just that the tip might be small, but that it’s nearly impossible to figure out who deserves what. Did the drummer bring in the most fans or the lead singer? Because Instagram’s system is so complex, a small bonus check feels less like a salary and more like an insult, a tiny piece from a multi-billion dollar pie, without a clear explanation of how it was earned.
How Human Creators Can Beat the Coming AI “Slop” Apocalypse.
The Master Chef vs. the Vending Machine.
AI content is like a vending machine. It can produce a perfectly consistent, generic snack 24/7. It’s cheap, fast, and fills a basic need. But it has no soul, no creativity, and no understanding of culture. A human creator is a master chef. You take raw ingredients (ideas, trends, emotions) and combine them with your unique taste, personality, and experience to create a truly unforgettable meal. While the world fills up with vending machines, people will always pay a premium and line up for a meal cooked by a chef with a story.
“Carcinization”: The Theory That Explains Why All Social Apps Are Becoming the Same.
Every Car in a Race Adopting the Same Winning Design.
Imagine a car race where every team is trying to build the fastest car. One team discovers that a specific teardrop shape is the most aerodynamic. To compete, every other team starts designing their cars to look almost identical to that winning shape. This is “carcinization” in social media. TikTok discovered the “winning design” was a full-screen, short-form video feed. Now, to stay in the race, Instagram (Reels) and YouTube (Shorts) have all evolved to look like crabs—adopting the same successful body plan to survive.
Is Instagram Listening to Your Mic? The CEO Finally Explains the “Creepy” Ads.
The Detective Who Knows Your Friends.
You’re not being bugged. It’s more like a detective is investigating your social circle. You and your best friend talk about wanting a new coffee machine. Later that day, your friend—who is a similar age, lives in the same city, and has similar interests—searches for that machine online. The detective (the algorithm) sees this and thinks, “People like this are interested in coffee machines. I bet his friend is, too!” So, it shows you the ad. It didn’t hear you; it just made a really, really good guess based on your friend’s behavior.
The Most-Requested Feature Instagram Still Refuses to Build.
The Restaurant That Won’t Let You Sit at Your Old Favorite Table.
Imagine your favorite restaurant gets a huge, popular renovation. It’s now more efficient and serves more people. But you miss your old, quiet table in the corner where you could see everyone who walked in. You ask the manager every day to bring it back. The manager knows that while you and a few other regulars loved that table, making it the main seating area again would make the whole restaurant slower and less appealing for the thousands of new customers. That table is the chronological feed—loved by a vocal few, but not the default for the masses.
The 5% “Headwind”: The Invisible Force Shrinking Your Instagram Reach.
Trying to Swim Upstream in a River.
Imagine you’re trying to swim across a river. You’re a strong swimmer, and you’re putting in a ton of effort. But what you don’t realize is there’s a gentle current pushing you downstream. Even though you’re making progress, that current is constantly working against you. That’s the “headwind.” Instagram’s internal data shows that if they do nothing, engagement naturally declines by about 5% every six months because of competition. It means you have to work harder and harder just to stay in the same place, because the river itself is always moving.
Unlocking “Partner Ads”: The Monetization Tool 99% of Creators Ignore.
Letting a Movie Studio Put Your Face on a Billboard.
As a creator, making a brand deal is like getting paid to hold up a product in a single photo. It’s a one-time thing. “Partner Ads” are different. It’s like you made a cool, authentic video about a product you love. The brand then comes to you and says, “That was amazing. Can we pay you to turn that video into a massive billboard and a TV commercial that runs for months?” It lets brands use your creative genius with their powerful advertising tools, opening up a much larger pool of money than just a simple sponsored post.
The “Dear Algorithm” Meme That Forced Instagram to Give You Control.
The Town Hall Meeting That Changed City Policy.
Imagine a town where the radio station only plays music based on what it thinks people want, leading to everyone hearing the same five songs. Frustrated, people start posting letters all over town saying, “Dear DJ, please play less pop and more classic rock!” At first, it’s just a few letters, but soon it becomes a massive movement. The station manager sees the outcry and realizes they’re losing listeners. So, they create a request line. That’s what the “Dear Algorithm” meme did—it was a public protest that forced Instagram to build a request line for your feed.
What Happens to Instagram When We All Wear Smart Glasses?
Your Town Square Moving into Your Field of Vision.
Right now, Instagram is a place you go to—a town square you visit on your phone. When we have smart glasses, that town square will be projected directly onto the world around you. Instead of scrolling a feed, you might see a friend’s “Story” as a glowing window floating in the air next to you. A “Reel” might play on a blank wall as you walk by. The very idea of a “feed” might disappear, replaced by a layer of creative, social content that is seamlessly integrated with your physical reality. Instagram has to figure out how to exist without the phone.
“I Haven’t Found a Funny AI Yet”: Why Human Creativity Still Wins the Algorithm.
The Difference Between a Comedian and a Joke Book.
An AI is like a perfect joke book. It can analyze millions of jokes and tell you one that, statistically, is very likely to be considered funny. But it doesn’t understand why it’s funny. It has no timing, no personal experience, no sense of irony. A human comedian, however, draws on their own pain, observations, and cultural awareness to craft a joke that feels fresh, relevant, and deeply relatable. They can read the room. AI can replicate the formula of creativity, but for now, it can’t replicate the soul.
The “Negative Feedback Cycle” That Kills Social Platforms (And How to Avoid It).
The Most Popular Restaurant in Town Suddenly Getting Quiet.
Imagine the best restaurant in town starts to get a little less busy. A few top creators (the chefs) notice the crowds are smaller, so they leave to open a new restaurant elsewhere. Now, with fewer star chefs, even more customers stop coming. This means less money and less excitement, causing the remaining chefs to leave, too. This is the death spiral. Fewer users mean less reach for creators, so creators leave, which leads to even fewer users. To avoid it, Instagram must constantly innovate to keep the restaurant packed.
What Instagram’s CEO is Secretly Terrified Of (It’s Not TikTok).
The Fear of Becoming a “Tier Two” App.
It’s not about one specific competitor. It’s about fading from the cultural conversation. Imagine being the quarterback of the championship-winning football team. The fear isn’t just losing the next game. The real terror is becoming the team that people stop talking about, the one that no longer sells out stadiums, the one that isn’t on primetime TV anymore. That’s the fear of dropping to “tier two.” It’s the slide from being an essential part of daily life to just another app on someone’s phone, slowly being forgotten.
Deconstructing Adam Mosseri’s Two Different Answers to “What is Instagram?”
Describing a Car to an Engineer vs. a First-Time Driver.
At the start of the interview, Adam Mosseri gives the “engineer’s” answer: Instagram is a complex system of algorithmic and chronological feeds designed to connect people. It’s technical and precise. By the end, after discussing creators and culture, he gives the “driver’s” answer: Instagram is a place for creators to build an audience and for people to connect over interests. It’s about the human experience. The two answers reveal the constant tension he manages: balancing the cold, hard mechanics of the machine with the warm, messy, creative soul of its community.
The “It Needs to Matter” Rule: Steal Instagram’s Strategy for Your Own Content.
Deciding Which Renovations to Make on Your House.
You have a list of 20 things you could do to your house. You could repaint a small closet, or you could remodel the kitchen. The closet is an easy, small change, but it’s just “noise”—it won’t really change your life or the house’s value. The kitchen remodel is a big bet, but it will matter. It will fundamentally improve your daily experience. Before you post, ask yourself Instagram’s question: “Is this just repainting a closet, or am I remodeling the kitchen?” Focus your energy on the ideas that will truly make a meaningful impact on your audience.
How Much Control Does Mark Zuckerberg Really Have Over Your Feed?
The Owner of a Restaurant Chain and the Head Chef of One Location.
Mark Zuckerberg is like the owner of a massive restaurant empire (Meta). He sets the overall business goals: profitability, growth, and using the same high-quality ingredients (technology) across all locations. Adam Mosseri is the head chef at the exclusive “Instagram” restaurant. While he has to operate within the owner’s budget and overall vision, he is the one who designs the menu (features), decides the daily specials (content priorities), and runs the kitchen. The owner sets the direction, but the chef is in control of your daily experience.
Unlocking the Algorithm: Mosseri Reveals What They Prioritize Over “Time Spent.”
The High-End Bookstore vs. the Clickbait Newsstand.
A cheap newsstand just wants you to stand there as long as possible, so it puts sensational, junky headlines on everything. It only cares about “time spent.” A high-end bookstore, however, wants to build a long-term relationship with you. It prioritizes quality and originality, recommending books by great, original authors. It knows that even if you spend less time there today, you’ll trust its recommendations and keep coming back for years. Instagram is trying to be the bookstore, prioritizing originality and timeliness to build trust, even if it means sacrificing short-term engagement.
Is Getting Pennies Better Than Nothing? The Great Creator Payout Debate.
A Surprise $1 Tip vs. an Empty Tip Jar.
Imagine you’re a street musician. You play your heart out for an hour. At the end, most people just walk by. But one person drops a single dollar in your case. Is it insulting? Not really. It’s a signal. It’s proof that someone valued your work enough to give something. That $1 isn’t going to pay your rent, but it’s motivation. It shows the system works, and if you can attract a bigger crowd, maybe next time it will be $10. That’s the argument for small payouts—it’s not about the amount, it’s about the validation and the hope for more.
The Day You Can’t Tell Real from AI on Instagram is Coming. Here’s the Plan.
A “Certified Organic” Sticker for Your Content.
Soon, telling the difference between a real photo and an AI-generated one will be like trying to tell if a tomato is organic just by looking at it—impossible. So, just as grocery stores use “Certified Organic” labels to build trust, social platforms will need to do the same. The plan isn’t to stop AI, but to label it. You won’t be able to trust your eyes anymore, but you might be able to trust a “Captured with Camera” or “Created with AI” label. The new currency won’t be realism; it will be verified authenticity.
The Psychology of “Hate-Watching” and How It’s Tricking the Algorithm.
The Car Wreck on the Side of the Road.
You’re driving down the highway, and there’s a wreck on the other side. You know you shouldn’t, but you can’t help but slow down and look. Your action—slowing down—tells traffic analysts that this is an “engaging” spot on the road. The algorithm is like that traffic analyst. When you “hate-watch” something, you’re slowing down to look at a wreck. You don’t enjoy it, but your engagement sends a powerful signal that this is interesting content, so the algorithm shows you more wrecks, trapping you in a cycle of content you don’t even like.
My Follower Count Dropped—Here’s What the CEO Did When His Did Too.
The Chef Who Realized No One Was Ordering His Signature Dish.
Imagine a chef at a top restaurant notices that fewer and fewer people are ordering his famous signature dish. He could blame the customers for having bad taste, or he could do what a smart chef does: go back to the kitchen and reinvent the dish. He has to adapt to what people want now. When Adam Mosseri’s own follower count started to decline, he didn’t blame the algorithm he runs. He took it as a sign that his own content strategy was stale and that he needed to rethink what he was posting to be relevant again.
The Creator’s Dilemma: How to Evolve Without Alienating Your Day-One Audience.
Your Favorite Indie Band Signing with a Major Label.
Your favorite small, local band has a unique sound you love. Then, they sign a record deal and their music becomes more polished and mainstream to appeal to a wider audience. Some of their original fans feel betrayed and say they “sold out.” But to grow, the band had to evolve. This is the creator’s dilemma. You must constantly experiment and change to stay relevant and reach new people, but in doing so, you risk losing the very fans who supported you when you were just playing in a small garage. It’s a delicate balancing act.
A Deep Dive into “Embeddings”: The Unseen AI That Shapes Your Entire Instagram Experience.
The Librarian Who Organizes Books by Vibe, Not Just Genre.
A traditional librarian organizes books by genre: fiction, history, science. But a brilliant, intuitive librarian might create a new section called “Mysterious Books That Make You Think About the Stars,” and put a history book, a novel, and a science book all next to each other. This is what “embeddings” AI does. It watches your behavior and understands the vibe of the content you like. It then groups seemingly unrelated videos together in a way no human could, creating recommendations that feel magically, inexplicably perfect for you.
Why Being “The De Facto Home for Creators” Should Change Your Entire Strategy.
Becoming the Central Hub in a City of Specialists.
Imagine a city where there’s a neighborhood just for amazing restaurants (YouTube) and another just for wild nightclubs (TikTok). Instagram’s goal is to be the central downtown hub. It might not have the absolute best restaurant or the wildest club, but it has great versions of both, plus shopping, parks, and places to live. It’s where everyone comes together. For creators, this means you can’t just be a “Reels” creator. You need to use the whole suite of tools—Stories, DMs, Feed posts—to truly build a home and connect with your community in the central hub.
The Existential Threat: Can Instagram Avoid Becoming a “Tier Two” App?
The Difference Between a Smartphone and a Pager.
In the 90s, having a pager made you feel important and connected. It was a “tier one” device. Now, it’s a piece of forgotten technology. The fear for Instagram isn’t just that another app will be more popular. The existential threat is becoming a pager—an app that was once essential but is now just… there. It’s the slide from being a verb (“Let’s Instagram this”) to being an afterthought. Maintaining “tier one” status means being part of the cultural fabric, not just a tool people used to use.
Is Your Content “Differentiated”? The One Word That Defines Your Survival.
The One Coffee Shop in Town with a Secret Recipe.
If there are ten coffee shops in a single block and they all sell the exact same generic coffee, you have no reason to be loyal to any of them. You’ll just go to whichever is closest. But if one of those shops has a unique, secret recipe for a lavender latte that no one else can replicate, you will walk past the other nine shops just to go there. That secret recipe is your “differentiated” content. It’s the unique voice, style, or perspective that makes you irreplaceable and gives your audience a reason to choose you specifically.
“The Blurry Middle”: Why the Future of Content is AI-Assisted, Not AI-Generated.
A Master Carpenter Using a Power Saw.
The future of content isn’t a robot building a house from scratch. It’s a master carpenter using a powerful new saw. The carpenter still has the vision, the skill, and the creativity. The saw just helps them make cleaner, faster cuts. AI will be that power tool for creators. You will still be the creative mind, but you’ll use AI to remove background noise from your audio, color-grade your videos instantly, or generate five amazing script ideas from a single prompt. It won’t replace you; it will amplify you.
From “Intense Filters” to AI: A Decade of Redefining “Creativity.”
From a Simple Paint-by-Numbers Kit to a Full Art Studio.
When Instagram started, it gave everyone a simple paint-by-numbers kit. The “intense filters” were the pre-selected colors that made any photo look like art. It was a simple, guided form of creativity. Now, Instagram is a massive, professional art studio. It has video editing tools, audio libraries, augmented reality effects, and soon, powerful AI tools. The definition of “creativity” on the platform has expanded from applying a cool filter to directing, producing, and editing a multi-faceted piece of media. The tools have evolved, and so must the artists.
Why Your High School Friends’ Baby Photos Are No Longer a Priority.
The Town Newspaper Becoming a National Magazine.
Instagram started as your local town newspaper. Its main job was to show you what your neighbors and friends were up to—birthdays, vacations, and baby photos. But to grow, it had to become a national magazine. While it still has a small “local news” section (your friends’ posts), the front page is now filled with the most entertaining and interesting content from across the country (Reels and recommendations). It’s a strategic shift from a purely social network to an entertainment platform, and that means professional content now often outranks personal updates.
The “It’s My Birthday, Give Me a Blue Check” Problem Plaguing Instagram.
Everyone Wanting a VIP Pass to a Concert.
The blue checkmark was originally like a backstage pass at a concert, given only to the artists and crew to prove they were the real deal and prevent confusion. But the audience saw the pass and thought it was a symbol of VIP status, a sign that you were important. Now, everyone in the audience is clamoring for a pass, believing it will make them special, too. This has created a constant flood of requests from people who don’t need it for protection, but want it for perceived status, turning a safety feature into a vanity item.
How Instagram’s Secret “Back Test” on 1% of Users Decides Your Fate.
Keeping a Control Group in a Science Experiment.
Imagine a scientist is testing a new plant fertilizer. To know if it really works, she takes two identical groups of plants. One group gets the new fertilizer, and the other—the “control group”—gets nothing. By comparing them, she can prove how effective the fertilizer is. Instagram does this with its users. They will hold back new features from a random 1% of people (the control group). By comparing the behavior of the 99% with the 1%, they can see exactly how much value their changes are creating, or if they’re making things worse.
How to “Read Between the Lines” of Your Comments to Find Your Next Viral Hit.
The Restaurant Owner Listening to What Customers Aren’t Saying.
A customer might say, “The music is too loud.” A good restaurant owner hears that. A great owner hears something deeper: “The atmosphere isn’t relaxing.” The solution isn’t just turning down the music; it’s about dimming the lights and changing the decor, too. When your followers comment, “I wish your videos were longer,” don’t just make longer videos. Read between the lines. What they might really be asking for is a deeper, more detailed explanation of a topic. The specific request is a clue to a much bigger, unmet need.
The Unspoken Rule of Content Creation: Abandon a Series Before It Dies.
The Hit TV Show That Knew When to End.
Some of the most legendary TV shows are the ones that ended at their peak, leaving the audience wanting more. They didn’t drag on for five more seasons until everyone got bored and the ratings collapsed. As a creator, you have to be the showrunner of your own channel. When you have a successful series, enjoy its success, but be brutally honest about when its creative energy is starting to fade. It’s far better to end it on a high note and pivot to something new and exciting than to milk it dry and have your audience abandon you.
How to Speak 5 Different “Languages” as a Multi-Platform Creator.
Being a Tour Guide in Five Different Countries.
A great tour guide wouldn’t give the same speech at the Eiffel Tower in Paris as they would at a tech conference in Silicon Valley. The audience, the culture, and the expectations are completely different. Being a creator on five platforms is the same. The “language” you speak on YouTube (in-depth, educational) is different from the language of TikTok (fast, trendy, entertaining), which is different from Instagram (aesthetic, community-focused). You must learn the native language and customs of each platform to truly connect with the locals.
The Core of Viral Reels: Making Content “More Social, More Friendly.”
The Joke That’s So Good You Have to Tell Your Friend.
Think about the last time you heard a truly hilarious joke. Your immediate, instinctive reaction was probably to turn to the person next to you and say, “Oh my god, you have to hear this.” That’s the secret to a viral Reel. It’s not just about making content that one person enjoys in isolation. It’s about creating something so relatable, funny, or shocking that it sparks a conversation. The goal is to make a video that someone feels compelled to hit the “share” button on and send to their friend with the caption, “This is SO us.”
Why the Chronological Feed is a Trap (And Why Instagram Won’t Make it Default).
A Library That Only Shows You the Newest Books.
Imagine you walk into a library, but instead of organized shelves, they only show you a single conveyor belt of the most recently returned books. You might see a few interesting things that just came in, but you’d miss all the timeless classics, the hidden gems, and the books perfectly suited to your interests that were returned yesterday. That’s the chronological feed. It shows you what’s new, but the algorithmic feed acts as a master librarian, sorting through everything to find the best and most relevant books for you, regardless of when they were published.
The Three Hurdles Stopping Instagram From Launching a Real Revenue Share Program.
Trying to Fairly Split the Bill for a Massive Potluck Dinner.
Imagine a potluck with thousands of guests and hundreds of chefs. Trying to create a fair payment system is a nightmare. First, you have to make sure the money collected from guests at least covers the cost of the ingredients (break-even). Second, you need a clear, transparent rule for which chefs get paid—is it the one with the longest line or the most creative dish? (transparent eligibility). Third, you can’t go around handing chefs a check for fifty cents without insulting them (meaningful payout). Instagram is stuck trying to solve all three problems at once.
How an Argument With His Wife Shapes Instagram’s Entire Privacy Policy.
The “It’s Just a Coincidence” Defense.
Adam Mosseri’s wife, like many of us, is sometimes convinced Instagram is listening to her conversations because an ad appears for something she just talked about. He then has to explain all the complex, behind-the-scenes data connections that actually triggered the ad. This recurring, real-life argument forces him to be acutely aware of how creepy and invasive the platform can feel, even when it’s not technically doing anything wrong. It puts him in the user’s shoes, shaping policies not just on what is technically happening, but on how to build trust and avoid that uncanny feeling.
The “Bigger Bets” Strategy: How Instagram Plans to Win the Social Media War.
A Poker Player Going All-In.
In a high-stakes poker game, you can slowly win small pots by making safe, conservative bets. Or, you can wait for a great hand and make a “bigger bet”—a bold, risky move that could either win you the whole game or cost you dearly. The safe player often gets slowly bled dry by the more aggressive ones. Mosseri believes Instagram is in this poker game. Features like Reels were a “bigger bet.” It was a risky, all-in move to compete with TikTok, and he believes that making more of these bets is the only way to win the championship.
Why Simplicity is Instagram’s Biggest Enemy and Greatest Goal.
The cluttered garage vs. the minimalist living room
Your garage is probably cluttered with tools for every possible job. It’s complex, but powerful. Your living room, on the other hand, is simple, clean, and relaxing. Instagram is trying to be both. To compete, it needs to add more and more tools to its garage (Reels, Stories, Shopping, etc.). But to keep users happy and not overwhelmed, it needs the app to feel like that minimalist living room. The constant battle is between adding powerful new features and trying to keep the user experience from feeling like a cluttered, stressful mess.
Decoding “Originality” and “Timeliness”: The Two Metrics That Outrank Everything.
The News Reporter’s Golden Rules.
Imagine you’re a news editor. Two reporters submit a story about a big event. The first reporter was there in person, got a unique quote nobody else has (originality), and filed the story within minutes of it happening (timeliness). The second reporter just re-wrote another newspaper’s article from yesterday. Which story do you put on the front page? It’s a no-brainer. The algorithm is that editor. It’s actively searching for and rewarding the creators who are on the scene, offering a fresh perspective, and doing it right now.
How to Escape the “Doom Scrolling” Trap You Didn’t Know You Were In.
The Sticky Fly Paper of Sad Content.
Imagine your finger is covered in invisible, emotional fly paper. You’re scrolling, and you see a sad video. You pause for just a second longer than usual, and your finger gets stuck. The algorithm sees you’re stuck and assumes you want more, so it surrounds you with more sticky, sad content until you’re completely trapped. Escaping requires a conscious choice. You have to actively search for and engage with positive content—like reaching for a clean cloth—to wipe the sticky residue off your algorithm and free yourself from the cycle.
Deconstructing the Perfect Ad That Made Instagram’s CEO Open His Wallet.
The Perfect Key for a Lock You Didn’t Know You Had.
Adam Mosseri described himself: a dad in his 40s, lives in San Francisco, likes coffee and gadgets. The ad system didn’t just see a person; it saw a set of highly specific locks. The perfect ad—for a tiny, well-designed vacuum for coffee grounds—was the key. It wasn’t just a generic ad for “coffee stuff.” It was a solution to a niche problem that someone with his exact combination of interests would have. The ad worked because it felt less like a sales pitch and more like a brilliant discovery designed just for him.
The Hidden Power of “Shared Collections” and Other Underused Growth Tools.
Creating a Secret Clubhouse with Your Biggest Fans.
Most creators just broadcast their content out to everyone. But imagine creating a secret, private clubhouse. A “Shared Collection” is exactly that. You can create a collection of inspiring posts, ideas, or memes and invite a select group of your most engaged followers to contribute. It’s not just you talking at them; it’s you collaborating with them. This turns passive followers into an active community, creating a deep sense of belonging and loyalty that a public post could never achieve. It’s a powerful tool for building a super-fan base.
Why Instagram Believes YOU Are Its Best Defense Against AI Content.
The Connoisseur in a World of Fakes.
In the art world, the best defense against a flood of cheap forgeries is not to ban all new art, but to rely on the trained eye of connoisseurs who can spot the difference between a soulless copy and a work with real human touch and intention. Instagram believes its human creators are those connoisseurs. AI can create “slop,” but it can’t create culture, tell a truly original story, or have a unique point of view. The platform is betting that users will always be drawn to the authentic, human-made content that AI simply can’t replicate.
The Real Risk of Giving Users Control Over Their Algorithm.
Letting a Child Be in Charge of Dinner Every Night.
If you ask a child what they want for dinner every night, they will probably say “ice cream and candy.” It will make them happy in the short term, but it’s not a balanced, healthy diet. Giving users total control over their algorithm has a similar risk. A user might tell the algorithm they only want to see funny cat videos. The algorithm could deliver that, but it might make their experience less diverse and ultimately less interesting over time, causing them to get bored and use the app less than if they had a more “balanced diet” of content.
Building a “Rapport with the Creative Community”: What It Means For You.
The Shop Owner Who Knows the Local Artisans by Name.
A generic big-box store doesn’t care who makes the products it sells, as long as they sell. But a small, local shop owner builds personal relationships with the local artisans. They promote their work, give them feedback, and create a sense of partnership. This is what Instagram is trying to do. By prioritizing original content and trying to build better monetization tools, they are attempting to move from being a cold, faceless corporation to being a trusted partner for creators—a place that values their craft and wants to see them succeed long-term.
A Creator’s Guide to Navigating the “Pivotal Moment” in Social Media History.
Standing at the Crossroads of a Dirt Path and a Superhighway.
Imagine you’ve become an expert at driving a horse and buggy on a dirt path. Suddenly, you find yourself at a crossroads where that path meets a brand new, ten-lane superhighway with futuristic cars speeding by. This is the creator’s world right now. The old rules (the dirt path of photos and simple videos) still exist, but the future is AI, AR, and new platforms (the superhighway). To survive and thrive, you can’t just be a good buggy driver anymore. You have to be willing to learn how to drive the new cars.
What It Takes to Be a “Tier One” Creator on a “Tier One” App.
Being the Headline Act at the World’s Biggest Music Festival.
There are thousands of bands at a massive music festival. Many are playing on small side stages (“tier two”). But the headline act on the main stage is “tier one.” They aren’t just good; they are culturally relevant. They define the conversation. To be a “tier one” creator on Instagram, it’s not enough to just post good content. You must be at the center of your niche’s culture, driving trends instead of just following them, and using the entire platform—from Reels to DMs—to build a community that feels essential.
How Competing on 5 Platforms at Once Changes the Game for Creators.
The Athlete Who Has to Master Five Different Sports.
In the past, a creator could be like a star basketball player, focusing all their energy on mastering one sport on one court. Now, to stay competitive, you have to be a decathlete. You need to be a great sprinter (TikTok), a skilled long-jumper (YouTube), and a powerful shot-putter (Instagram), all at the same time. This means you can’t just “repost” the same content everywhere. You have to train differently for each event, understanding the unique physics and rules of each platform to have a chance at winning a medal.
The Future is “Less Human-Interpretable”: What That Means for Your Content.
The Master Chef Who Cooks by Feel, Not by Recipe.
A beginner cook follows a recipe exactly: “one teaspoon of salt.” A master chef, however, cooks by feel, taste, and intuition. You can’t write down their process in a simple, step-by-step way. The AI that powers your feed is becoming that master chef. In the past, we could say, “more comments equals more reach.” Soon, the AI’s “recipe” for success will be so complex and intuitive, based on millions of tiny signals, that we won’t be able to explain it in simple terms. Your job is to stop trying to follow a recipe and just focus on making the most delicious food possible.