Following a week of controversy for Meta, in which it changed its policies on acceptable speech and fact-checking, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri has today outlined IG’s top priorities for 2025, and where it will be focusing its efforts to grow and improve the platform.
Which will also include an increase in political content, in line with the broader Meta announcement, though where that will actually fit, given that more than 50% of the content in your Instagram feed is now AI-recommended Reels, is not entirely clear.
Mosseri says that the platform’s two key areas of focus for 2025 will be “Creativity” and “Connection”.
On the creativity front, Mosseri says that he wants to ensure that Instagram’s creative tools are “best in class”, by embracing new technologies like AI to maximize creator opportunities.
As explained by Mosseri:
“Instagram was really founded on the idea of allowing anybody to share something creative that they were proud to share, and so we want to double-down on that by making sure that our creative tools are best-in-class across the board, which they are not right now. [We’ll do this] by embracing new technologies, like AI, to allow more creators to create more content that they’re proud of, and by trying to reward creative content more by focusing ranking on things like originality.”
This has been a key focus for IG already, in providing more opportunities for creators to make money from their efforts in the app, but it’s now looking to ensure that its systems are also more aligned with that focus, in highlighting original content.
Instagram made an important change along this line in April last year, by refocusing its algorithm to better showcase smaller creators, and demoting aggregator profiles in its recommendations. Mosseri says that they’re going to continue this focus in 2025, by making more algorithmic updates to make it easier for emerging creators to gain traction in the app.
Though, conversely, that could also mean that established profiles lose out in the same way, but Mosseri does say that original content will be the focus.
On connection, Mosseri says that the platform is going to double down on messaging, while also making content consumption “more interactive and social”
“In terms of connecting with friends, [we’re] doubling down on messaging, which, by the way, is the primary way that people share on Instagram today, even though a lot of people don’t think of us that way. We’re also going to look for more ways to make recommendations and consuming content more interactive and more social, and we’re going to be exploring some new ways to connect with your friends on Instagram.”
Not a lot in the way of detail, but you can expect to see more things like Notes, which will help Instagram users connect in ways that align better with messaging, and sharing content in private.
And it definitely is worth noting Mosseri’s point here about messaging being the primary driver of sharing in the app. That makes in-stream metrics like likes and follows less relevant, as the main indicator of how far your message is spreading is more likely to now be total shares, though even then, that doesn’t account for people copying and pasting a link into a message group.
Essentially, social sharing behavior has changed a lot, and the traditional metrics of focus may no longer be as valuable as indicators of performance.
So not a heap of detail, but some pointers on where IG is looking in 2025, which, unsurprisingly, will be aligned around AI, original creators, and messaging.
Though can you count AI-generated content as original in this context, given that it’s derivative, based on the inputs? I’m guessing Instagram will view it as such, but the main focus for IG creators should be original content, utilizing the full gamut of new tools at your disposal, with the intention of boosting sharing behavior.
As a bonus note, research shows that pleasure, arousal, and dominance are the key emotions that drive increased share and purchase intent. Could be worth noting in your approach.
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