An announcement this week let the world know that Instagram will soon be updating its user navigation to ‘simplify’ things for everyone.
The biggest change sees the shopping bag Shop shortcut icon disappear from the app’s home screen navigation altogether. The news has generally met with approval among users who have felt that the commerce side of the app has, over the past few years, been forced front and centre at the expense of its more creative shortcuts. The move will see the Create button move from the top right navigation to, once again, be the most central icon on the main navigation bar with the Reels icon making way by moving one step to the right. The Shop icon will no longer be seen here at all.
Does this signal a change in direction for Instagram?
Don’t panic (!) – buying and selling on Instagram is here to stay and will continue to be easily accessible via the Discover shortcut (the magnifying glass one) as well as direct from Posts, Stories and Reels. But placing the Create shortcut front and centre once again could be seen as an attempt to prioritise creativity over commerce for the average IG user experience. And we like that.
What’s also interesting is that the ever-so-slight re-positioning of the Reels shortcut may signal acknowledgement that the IG powers that be have taken on board the ‘Make Instagram Instagram Again’ backlash from users who are unhappy that the app seemed to have been copying TikTok more and more since 2021.
The new Instagram changes start to roll out this February.
See how Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri announced the changes >
