The Deadly Algorithm A web portal focused on examining the effects of instagram's new capitalistic design

Reels - You Don't Have a Choice.

A main argument of Instagram's downfall tends to be its growing similarity to the platform 'TikTok'.

In 2019, Instagram came out with 'reels', which are videos up to 90 seconds long; theses videos can include special effects, music, and other distracting elements.

While Instagram reels started off relatively harmless, in the present of 2022 they're a force completely taking over Instagram's creativity and personality.

Instagram reels are toxic to users in many ways, including:

1. They take over the entire phone screen when you click on them; this makes it more difficult for users to exit and not be drawn in solely to their reels feed.
2. They're unoriginal and wasteful - most reels are either mindless, un-educational videos to keep users scrolling, or marketing techniques used to make more money off of people for useless products.
3. Users are no longer able to post regular videos alone. Videos will either automatically be posted in reel form, which distorts the visual to fill the entire screen, or they must be posted in a slide with at least one photo. So ... that family home video your mom wanted to share to her small, wholesome instagram account, used for connecting with her younger relatives? Forget about it.
4. Instagram does not care. "Our feeds aren't about us anymore. They're just a place where we get marketed to." (Watson, 2)

Back To The Roots

The reality of the issues that Instagram is bringing to the social media table is - they are quite easily fixable.

First and foremost, we must turn to Instagram and encourage them to stop trying to be other apps. It is imperative that Instagram and other social media platforms take more care for their users experience and well-being. Additionally, and this is a direct statement to Meta, there is an explore page for a reason. Stop crowding the personal home pages of Instagram users with ads they don't care about when there is an entire section of the app made for discovering and browsing the web.

However, while Instagram is very much to blame for the overwhelming market of wasteful product and lack of personal connection, there are some things we can do.

1. Get off the app. This may seem too easy to be helpful, but one of the main things that keeps toxic ad and marketing reels alive is the engagement we as users give to them.
2. Keep making noise. Instagram is hearing us, that is clear. Though they are ignoring most complaints about the production of their app, we have more power than we realize. The only way to make change, especially in a digital age, is to share your thoughts and support healthy social media practices.
3. Edit your app settings.

• You can snooze suggested posts for up to 30 days.
• You can filter out other posts by clicking on the Instagram word icon in the upper right corner of the home page, with the options of 'following' and 'favorites'. However, this method is not fool-proof; Instagram still has many loopholes for prioritizing and sneaking in sponsored and recommended content.