Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian Tell Instagram to Stop Copying TikTok
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Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian Tell Instagram to Stop Copying TikTok

Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian want Instagram to stay in its lane.

For the past few years, TikTok has been experiencing an insane amount of growth, accumulating over 3.5 billion total downloads to beat out Instagram as the No. 1 app in the world. And given that we live in a techno-capitalist world, it was only a matter of time until the latter rushed to release a new product that was suspiciously similar to the short-form video format pioneered by their rival platform — a.k.a. Instagram Reels.

Since the feature's launch in 2020, the Meta-owned company has continued to heavily push Instagram Reels, much to the annoyance of users who would rather use the app to see and share static photos. But following a recent test update involving a full-screen version of a feed, a photographer named Tati Bruening started a Change.org petition titled "Make Instagram Instagram Again," which argued that "the only reels uploaded are recycled TikToks and content that the world has already seen."

“What’s innovative and unique about old stale content? Nothing!," Bruening wrote, before noting that creators who have "made a living and contributed to the community" have been forced "to change their entire content direction and lifestyle to serve a new algorithm."

The photographer wrote, "Listen to the community. Take our thoughts and requests into consideration!" And it turns out that two of Instagram's most prominent users wholeheartedly agree.

As NBC News reported, Jenner (360 million followers) and Kardashian (326 million followers) both took to their Instagram Stories on Tuesday, July 26 to co-sign Bruening's "Make Instagram Instagram Again" post, which also reads, “(stop trying to be tiktok i just want to see cute photos of my friends). Sincerely, Everyone.”

So on the heels of the sisters' reposts, Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri posted his own video reassuring users that the app would "continue to support photos" amidst concerns about the app's pivot away from photos, in which he reassured

"It’s part of our heritage,” he said. “That said, I need to be honest: I do believe that more and more of Instagram is going to become video over time. We see this even if we do nothing… So we’re gonna have to lean into that shift.”

You can watch Mosseri's entire response video below.

Photo via Getty / Rich Fury / VF20