More people are being given the option to switch to Instagram’s new UI, which sees Reels and DMs moved into the second and third tab spots along the bottom navigation control, and enables you to swipe between them, simplifying access to the most-used elements of the app.
As you can see in this example, posted by creator economy expert Lia Haberman, more users are now being prompted to try out the updated UI, which puts more focus on “your favorite spaces” in the app.
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri says that option is coming to all users shortly, so if you haven’t seen this prompt as yet, you soon will.
As per Mosseri:
“The first [tab] is still Stories and Feed, Reels is the second tab, DMs are third, and you can now swipe between tabs. We’re organizing the app around what people use it for most, which has increasingly been reels and DMs. I know these types of changes can take time to get used to, so we’re giving people the option to try this early before we roll it out. If you’re trying it out, let me know what you think.”
Really, it’s probably not a major shift, though it will probably be annoying to press the wrong button/s in the app for some period of time.
But as Mosseri notes, the main impetus here is to make it easier for users to access Reels and DMs, which now see far more use than the main feed. And as such, re-aligning the platform around these elements makes sense, though really, based on the usage data, we’ll likely eventually see IG open to the Reels feed straight up instead.
In fact, Instagram’s already testing this out, both in the new iPad version of the app, and with selected users in India, giving the Reels feed the main, up-front focus.
That, eventually, seems like where IG is headed.
I mean, the stats don’t lie: Overall video watch time on Instagram is up 20% year-over-year, while Meta has also reported that Reels now make up 50% of all time spent in the app.
People may claim to prefer the traditional IG approach, with the still image focused main feed getting the top spot in the display. But the data shows that people are using Instagram as an alternative to TikTok, with the full-screen video focus being the app’s most engaging element, and DMs forming the connective, social aspect.
As such, it’s little surprise to see Instagram rolling out this refreshed UI.
But the question for social media marketers is: “How will this impact my strategy?”
Well, realistically, probably not a heap. People are already engaging with Reels way more anyway, and the main feed exposure has been superseded by both Reels and Stories, which will get more focus. Making it easy to swipe across to these elements could mean that the traditional IG feed gets fewer views, but that’s the case anyway, so if you’re serious about IG, you’re probably focused on Reels and Stories already.
Does that mean that you should stop posting regular feed updates entirely? Well, no. I would still assume that these serve a purpose, especially as a secondary step in the discovery process, when users tap through to your profile to see what you have there. In this sense, feed posts displayed on your main grid likely do still have significant value, though as a main, brand-building and awareness focus, Stories and Reels should be the top priority.
Of course, this is theoretical, and we won’t know what the real impacts are till this new UI is rolled out to a majority of IG users. But it is important to note this as a usage shift, and to monitor your data to see what impacts it has on overall engagement, and your broader strategy.
But it’s coming. Whether all users are converted over to this more Reels/DM focused approach sooner or later, you do need to be aware of this shift.
