"Have you tried simply uploading a photo to Instagram lately? It's a minefield. Is that a Story, a Post, or a Reel? Do you want to add music? A caption? A prompt, which is... different than a caption, somehow? How about a poll? A fundraiser? More text, but this time on top of the image? Share it to Facebook? On and on and on. I have a simple request to anyone at Meta who is listening: please, just give us our photo sharing app back."
"The current Instagram app is more like three or four apps in a trenchcoat. There's the grid, which is probably what anyone over the age of 35 thinks of as Instagram. Then there's Stories - shamelessly copied from Snapchat - which I'll admit I enjoy. There's also Reels, which is where you can watch short videos a week after they were big on TikTok."
Uploading a photo to Instagram now presents numerous choices: Story, Post, or Reel, plus options for music, captions, prompts, polls, fundraisers, text overlays, and cross-posting to Facebook. The app contains distinct modes—the classic grid for photo posts, Stories borrowed from Snapchat, and Reels for short-form video—stacked together in one interface. Instagram constantly nudges users toward newer features and encourages cross-posting or adding content layers when publishing. Many features were bolted on over the past decade, producing a cluttered experience that complicates straightforward photo sharing and emphasizes engagement mechanics.
Read at The Verge
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