The square format era for Instagram profiles is coming to an end

Instagram announced that it will remove the square format in the profile grid and switch to vertical rectangular content. Adam Mosseri, the head of the platform, announced that the new order will meet with users as of this weekend. This radical change is considered a remarkable step, especially for users who care about profile aesthetics. However, the change can also be seen as a reflection of competition between social media platforms.

Switching to portrait format to improve user experience

In his statement via his Instagram story, Mosseri stated that the square format has an important place in the roots of Instagram. However, emphasizing that most of the content uploaded today is in vertical format, Mosseri stated that the necessity of users to crop their content has become an important problem. He stated that this was edited to ensure that both photo and video posts remain true to their original form.

With the new order, it is aimed to spread the content shared by users on their profiles to a wider area. It is anticipated that this will offer a significant advantage, especially for professional content producers and users aiming for an aesthetic profile appearance. However, for users who do not want to give up their habits, this may initially cause an adaptation period.

On the other hand, Mosseri stated that the difficulties this change may bring are temporary and that users will get used to this new order in the long run. It is stated that thanks to the vertical format, especially videos and high-resolution photos can be viewed without interruption. This will ensure that the content is displayed in the way users intended.

This step by Instagram can be described as a strategic step of the platform to adapt to users’ content consumption habits. This change, especially resulting from the use of mobile devices in vertical screen format, may inspire similar applications on other social media platforms. It seems that it will become clear over time how users will react to this new order in terms of visual aesthetics.

Additionally, Instagram announced a new feature to increase users’ interaction rates. Thanks to a tab that will be added to the Reels stream, users will be able to easily see the videos their friends like. It is thought that this innovation will increase the visibility of content producers and extend their interaction time on the platform.

Following previous limited testing, this edit indicates that Instagram may make more content-focused changes in the future. The platform, which only allowed uploading photos in square format until 2015, has diversified its formats over the years. However, the fact that the square format has lost its dominance in the profile grid shows how Instagram’s vision on this issue has evolved.

Instagram’s abandonment of the square format and transition to vertical content will bring significant changes for both content creators and daily users. With the increase in content consumption, especially on mobile devices, it seems likely that this new order will be adopted by more platforms. This change may reshape the expectations and needs of social media users.