from Hacker News

Why Instagram failed to become TikTok

by tehdik on 1/10/24, 3:39 AM with 32 comments

  • by sschueller on 1/11/24, 7:00 AM

    This may be one reason but it doesn't apply to me and I have used both significantly.

    I spend far more time on TikTok now than Instagram and that is for a few reasons which may appear minor but make the difference:

      - When you open instagram you will see a photo/video and after a few seconds you are sent to the top unable to find what you just saw. TikTok does not do this unless you swipe out.
  - Videos on instagram can not be properly paused so when you need to stop a video for a few. seconds you can't. Instagram also doesn't allow you to seek/ffw some content, same issue in youtube shorts. 
  - On Tiktok you have all kinds of analytics about each post you make as a regular user.
  - From reports that I have read, tiktok pays creators a lot more than instagram.
  - When I post on tiktok I get far more interaction and this is probably also due to the localization of content and how it is broadcast/spread.

  • by kredd on 1/11/24, 6:52 AM

    Without reliable numbers, I can’t take this post seriously. As much as I am on “TikTok’s recommendations are better” camp, my direct surroundings only share things with me on Reels. Obviously it’s very age and location related observation, but when you consider places like Hong Kong/India, where it is banned, I don’t think IG is losing big way. Add that the usual “TikTok bad cause data mining”, you’ll get a lot of people who avoid it as plague.

    That being said, I hope both of them magically disappear for the greater good of society :)

  • by gergrgerhj on 1/11/24, 7:43 AM

    The reasons are simple:

    1. Gatekeeping for no good reason. They broke web-experience as much as they could. There is a huge banner that doesn't let one view the content on the web version. It wasn't enough, so they blocked TOR and proxy. Now, I can't even view it without proxy of any kind. The account creation is complex, a phone number is required.

    2. Censorship.

    Youtube and other platforms are slowly poisoning themselves, too and will end up being irrelevant as time goes.

  • by ycdxvjp on 1/11/24, 7:32 AM

    Both are doing the same thing we saw happening to real-estate leading up to the 2008 meltdown.

    Replace real estate with Attention and its the same story. Attention is finite just like Land. There is only so much of it that can be sold limited by money supply in the system. Once that limit is reached cook up bullshit to keep selling real estate and in this case view counts up.

    Interesting difference is it's not just about bubble bursting but also info sewage accumulating in people's heads through this notion that info flow into people's heads can forever increase.

  • by apricot13 on 1/11/24, 8:29 AM

    > Sometimes I’m not in the mood to look at a certain celebrity’s third carousel of vacation photos so I scroll without hesitating

    This is also a key point. on tiktok the algorithm is very good anyway but you can ‘train’ it whilst using it to get it to show you what your interested in at that point in time.

    If i want more silly videos i simply watch those and skip others and it very quickly gets the message. The next time i use it it resets and i can choose longer form informational videos that time.

    On Instagram it’s the opposite and I’ve found myself having a mix of accounts to ‘trick’ it into showing me very different content types.

    For example there’s no way that Instagram would ever show electronics or developer content my main account explore page I’ve tried! So i had to create a separate account for that kind of content.

    Interestingly i get no sexualised content on my other accounts but where I’m following interests that are typically very male oriented i get the overly sexualised content. I never see any of that on tiktok and it covers all my interests sometimes without me even telling it!

  • by risfriend on 1/11/24, 7:24 AM

    Slightly digressing, thought atleast in India, Instagram has started catering to a lot of serious businesses especially startups. If you want to market, go to Instagram.. Well Tiktok has been banned but it was never taken here as a serious platform by businesses.

  • by keiferski on 1/11/24, 7:48 AM

    TikTok’s basic algorithm prioritizes smaller content creators, while Instagram / Meta properties in general still mostly only care about well-established accounts. Posting on Instagram feels like shouting into the void, while I’ve had TikTok posts (posted from a small account) get millions of views.

  • by spaceman_2020 on 1/11/24, 7:19 AM

    Honestly find that Instagram tries too hard to show me thirst traps - that I’m not interested in. It assumes that since I’m a male, I must automatically overwhelmingly like looking at attractive women.

    Its too one dimensional.

  • by kaba0 on 1/11/24, 7:02 AM

    Instagram also has a very good/addictive algorithm, for what it’s worth.

    I think it is more just network effect in play here - I feel that every generation has their de facto social media platform — the “boomers” have facebook, then comes instagram, and among the youngest generations is tiktok the biggest.

    Though I don’t have hard data on that, just anecdotal evidence.

  • by seydor on 1/11/24, 7:43 AM

    Why pizza failed to become lentils

  • by metamate419 on 1/11/24, 7:16 AM

    My conspiracy theory is TikTok was allowed to succeed to give Facebook a competitor so it couldn't be accused of being a monopoly.

  • by codingjaguar on 1/11/24, 11:11 AM

    Didn't their copy of Snap story feature successfully enough? In my personal experience with Instagram, I rarely look at any post anymore. My viewing typically finishes after watching a few story videos. Their failure is probably on content, Instagram posts are too "formal", too commercial, not as viral as most funny TikTok shorts.

  • by ShadowBanThis01 on 1/12/24, 6:34 AM

    This thesis is absurd. Who gives a shit where the poster's identifier sits? No one. It's all about the feed.

    Instagram's feed is full of bullshit that has nothing to do with anyone I follow. It's a conduit for spam at this point, and everyone knows it.

    TikTok on the other hand is just a sewer line. I don't know what dictates the effluent they're funneling through anyone's feed, but it represents a new low even to cynics. Just... mind-boggling stupidity.

    Vine came and went. So why the ascendance of TikTok? Human stupidity. My condolences to Vine's creators.