Instagram is taking aim at a wave of alternative social-media apps as it launches and tests new features
- BeReal, Lapse, Retro — these new apps are positioning themselves as alternatives to Instagram.
- Instagram is getting the hint and isn’t going to back down.
- Instagram has launched and tested several new features this year to keep up with these new trends.
Instagram is concerned about more than just TikTok. A new generation of apps is launching left and right, vying for the Meta-owned platform’s throne.
Consider the term “Lapse.” The photo-sharing app topped the US Apple App Store charts in September and continues to be popular. Its premise is simple: use the app as a disposable camera to take photos, wait for the image to “develop,” and then catalog your photos into automatic photo dumps.
If you recall, photo dumps are an Instagram phenomenon that grew in popularity in response to calls for Instagram to feel more authentic — like it used to.
Lapse is one of many newer apps that criticize Instagram’s suffocated social-media experience. “Lapse is for Friends, not Followers,” according to the app store description.
From BeReal to the newcomer ID by Amo, which launched this weekend from the French team behind the Snapchat-acquired Zenly, these new apps are focusing on Instagram’s apparent friend gap, which has sparked outrage from everyday users as well as celebrities such as Kylie Jenner.
“You are more than a profile picture and a grid of edited photos,” says the ID by Amo description. “Greetings from Amo. “We’re just friends.”
Instagram appears to have received the message.
Instagram has been testing and releasing new features to bring us closer to our friends over the last few months. Yes, more “Close Friends” tools are on the way.
Instagram added the Close Friends feature to the feed earlier this month, allowing users to curate content for a smaller pool of followers. This is huge for users like myself who have multiple Instagram accounts for different purposes or audiences. There’s no need to post to “finsta” anymore. Only your close friends will be able to see your memes and photo dumps if you post them directly to your grid.
And Instagram may have learned a lesson from its battle with TikTok: While the platform was chastised for being slow to launch its TikTok-clone feature, Reels, the platform appears to be more proactive in chasing trends these days.
According to a Meta spokesperson, Instagram is working on two internal prototypes that could push some new apps to the sidelines. One appears to be called “Your Space” and will be a “private space within your public profile,” according to a reverse-engineered prototype discovered by Alessandro Paluzzi. According to another prototype shared by Paluzzi, the second internal prototype harkens back to the days of Facebook-versus-Myspace with an Instagram-native “Wall” that allows followers to leave text notes on a user’s page.
And those aren’t the only recent features that appear to be aimed at competitors.
Here are a few examples of Instagram rollouts that feel… familiar:
Let’s start with Instagram’s Threads.
Meta
What it is: Meta’s answer to X (formerly Twitter) was a text-focused social-media feed. The app made a splash when it launched in July, and while interest waned in the first few months, Meta executives appear to be pleased with the platform’s progress.
Feels like: Twitter and Nospace (a MySpace-inspired, invite-only app that is mostly text posts).
The ‘Close Friends’ suite of tools is getting an overhaul.
What it is: Close Friends debuted in 2018 as a way for users to share more private content to their Instagram stories. Since then, the feature has become a platform staple, and it wasn’t until this year that Instagram began to overhaul it seriously. The most significant change is that users can now post content to their feeds that only Close Friends can see.
Instagram is also experimenting with the ability to curate multiple Close Friends lists.
Feels like: Retro (a photo-sharing app founded by ex-Instagram staffers), Lapse, BeReal, and any other photo-sharing app that claims to be for your closest friends.
Notes in Instagram DMs just got a lot more interactive.
What it is: According to Instagram’s head executive, Adam Mosseri, Notes, a feature for brief status updates in your DMs, was launched in late 2022 and has since become a popular tool among teens. Earlier this year, the platform added the ability to share music to the feature, and it also announced that users will be able to share audio snippets and video selfies.
Feels like: Clubhouse and Telegram.
Instagram’s coming for the group chat with Broadcast Channels and subscriber-only chats.
What it is:
Meta’s “Broadcast Channel” is a feature that launched earlier this year that sits somewhere between a newsletter and a group chat. The feature has clogged my DMs with notifications from creators who are using the tool to keep their biggest fans and loyal followers up to date on announcements, polls, and photos.
Instagram’s subscription tools have also been expanded and enhanced. With Instagram’s subscription feature, creators can curate paywalled content such as posts, stories, reels, and livestreams. Creators can also use subscriptions to access paywalled broadcast channels and group chats.
Feels like: Substack, Patreon, and the many paywalled “community” platforms.
The app also added more editing tools for reels and photos.
What it is: While Instagram’s initial popularity is often attributed to the app’s unique photo filters, as the app has evolved, many new photo-editing apps have supplanted it. And, as short-form video has grown in popularity, apps like ByteDance’s CapCut have surpassed Instagram’s own editing tools. However, the platform hopes to change that by introducing a suite of new editing tools for reels as well as 25 new photo filters.
Feels like: CapCut, VSCO, and Tezza (a photo editing app founded by influencer Tessa Barton).
Oh, and we can’t forget the AI chatbots.
What it is: At Meta’s Connect conference in September, Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a suite of AI features, ranging from AI chatbots to generative AI tools that can generate images within the Instagram app.
Feels like: Every buzzy generative AI startup, from OpenAI’s DALL-E to CharacterAI.
