#hereforthestills
The artist-led rebellion against instagram’s ‘Pivot to Video.’
For TalentHouse
On 30th June, 2021 Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, announced that the new Instagram strategy is to “lean in” to video content, which Mosseri suggested was driving an “immense amount of growth”.
This change in the app left many artists, including Lucy Pass, anxious about seeing a decline in their hard-earned follower counts, engagement, and sales - grown from posting engaging, non-video content.
Instagram started life as an app for artists and photographers, and has been incredibly liberating for artists who, for so long, have had to navigate the rough waters of gallery representation. With a move to prioritise video content over stills, what effect will this have on the artistic and creative community?
Pass and fellow artist Florence Lee noticed that things were changing for them months ago, with their peers also seeing a decline in their engagement, account impressions, sales and followers.