Instagram’s having a midlife crisis as it hits 3 billion users

... And what’s up with all the skinny videos? 🤔

Author

Matt Navarra
September 26, 2025

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Hello, geeks!

This week’s Geekout might as well be called the Instagram Edition™.

Mosseri’s team has been busy…

Instagram just hit the 3 billion users milestone, and revealed big plans that’ll shape (or ruin) your future feed. 🏆

Meanwhile, social media’s longest-running political drama finally hit a plot twist — Trump has signed off on the TikTok deal. But many concerns remain unresolved. 🇺🇸

Zuck excitedly launched a new TikTok-style AI video feed. But brutal comments on his Threads posts suggest nobody wants more ‘AI slop’ 👎🏻

And Instagram’s latest viral trend? Ultra-wide, ultra-pointless videos… Social media managers rolled their eyes… then posted one anyway. 🤷‍♂️

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But before we get into it…

3 useful things…
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The 2025 Social Media Benchmarks Are Out – Where Do You Rank?

Social in 2025 has pivoted to ‘Unhinged’… But it feels like more like chaos.

New formats. Wild trends. And engagement that often makes no damn sense! Making it hard to know if your content is actually good? Or just “good enough!” 

Well, it’s time to find out…!

Dash Social’s must-read 2025 Social Media Benchmark Report just dropped, with data from 200,000+ posts, across 8 social platforms and 12 industries.

Sneak peek at 2025 insights… 👀

  • 📈 TikTok: Reach +25%, Shares +31%, Views +26%

  • 🖼️ Instagram: Carousels are (still) engagement magnets

  • 🎥 YouTube: Long-form is BACK — avg watch time up from 64%→86%

  •  📉 Follower growth is slowing, but engagement’s rising

Inside the FULL report you’ll discover… ⤵️

  • 📉 Why follower growth is slowing – and what actually matters more now

  • 🧠 Why 90% of TikTok viewers don’t finish videos – hint: it’s not your edits!

  • 💥 How brands like BBC Earth and Sour Patch Kids are killing it in 2025

  • 📊 Latest 2025 social benchmarks: reach, watch time, engagement, + more

🚫 No fluff. No junk. Just social intel to level-up your 2026 social strategy.

⤷ Where do YOU rank? Check here now! 

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🔥 GEEKOUT HOT 5

Geekout’s pick of the hottest headlines in social this week:

Instagram to overhaul app as number of users pass 3 billion

As Instagram celebrates the 3 billion milestone, it also plans to roll out features that help users control what content is algorithmically recommended to them.

  1. Trump signs executive order to transfer TikTok to US owners at $14 billion valuation [FINALIZING]

  2. Elon Musk’s xAI is suing OpenAI for stealing trade secrets related to its Grok chatbot [LITIGATING]

  3. Instagram still poses risk to children despite new safety tools, says Meta whistleblower [ENDANGERING]

  4. Meta faces big EU fines for failing to police illegal posts [PUNISHING]

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The Free Newsletter 130,000+ of the World’s Top Creators Swear By 🔥

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From Colin and Samir, The Publish Press is read by the world’s most popular creators, and execs at YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

Every week in The Publish Press, you’ll get:

  • 🔥 3 BIG STORIES SHAPING THE INDUSTRY: What happened, why it matters, and what happens next

  • 🚀 THE LATEST TRENDS & INSIGHTS: Get the inside scoop on the latest in the creator world

  • 💼 TOP CREATOR JOB OPS: Find your next gig in the booming creator economy

  • ⏱️ 5-MIN QUICK READS: Stay informed with the latest creator insights — all in under 5 minutes

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🚨 EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

Things are about to get Reel(s) for Instagram

Instagram as you knew it is dead. Get over it.

Meta says Instagram is bigger than ever, and platform boss Adam Mosseri wants to keep it that way.

The news this week that Instagram now has 3 billion monthly active users is a landmark moment, but that doesn’t mean that Mosseri thinks the app is doing everything it can to keep them.

The recent launch of a Reels-focused Instagram app on the iPad wasn’t a one-off just for tablet users; it’s seemingly the future of the platform. As Katie Notopoulos at Business Insider writes:

The writing has been on the wall for a while now that Instagram is much more focused on showing you Reels and beefing up its DM features.

You've surely noticed that your friends are posting to the grid less often — if at all. In fact, posting to the main feed has gotten so rare that there's a whole new set of unspoken rules about how to make those posts — the precise order of a photo dump for the month, what is grid-worthy or not, etc.

And very likely, you're spending less time on your main feed anyway, and spending more time in Reels. And unless you're an influencer yourself, you're probably not really posting that many Reels (if ever) — that's for the pros. You like to just sit back and scroll, like TikTok.

The world doesn’t need a second TikTok, but Instagram has become it anyway, because that’s how users like to spend their time.

It might feel like we’re losing what Instagram is ‘meant to be’, but if endless video swiping keeps users engaged with ads more than a feed of photos, it’s understandable that it’s changing.

Your Instagram strategy will probably have to change too. That carefully planned out grid could be less important than it once was.

But hey, at least Instagram is planning more control of the Reels it shoves in your face. Mosseri wrote this week: “We’ll soon start testing a way for you to tune your algorithm by adding and removing topics based on your interests, starting with reels. We hope this will be a meaningful new way to shape what you see.”

But wait… is 3 billion users as impressive as it sounds?

Some say monthly active users is losing meaning as a metric. Is someone who checks Instagram for a few minutes once a month that valuable compared to an avid daily user?

As Chris Taylor at Mashable writes, actual usage time on the app could have stalled:

Meta doesn't provide any kind of time-spent-on-app data for Instagram. Estimates from multiple online data services suggest it's around 32 minutes daily per Insta user, worldwide.

That might sound like a lot, but the number hasn't shifted since 2022. Previous to that, time on Instagram was increasing year on year. Now it may have flatlined.

With that in mind, maybe these changes to the app aren’t a victory lap at all, but a push for elusive growth.

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✨ NEW & NOTEWORTHY

Everything else you need to know from the past seven days…

Meta / Facebook / Messenger 👥

Meta’s Teen account protections roll out to Facebook + Messenger | Image: Meta

  • Meta expanded teen account protections to Instagram, Facebook and Messenger globally

  • Meta is opening pop-up shops in the US to show off its latest smart glasses

  • Meta’s new Creative Testing tool lets advertisers compare up to 5 ad versions in one streamlined experiment

  • Meta is launching an Instagram creator marketplace API and Facebook discovery API follows next month

  • Meta whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams is said to be facing financial ruin over her memoir, Careless People

  • Meta has been temporarily blocked from handing Instagram user info to the US Department of Homeland Security, following a court order

  • Meta blames Apple for blocking iMessage on Ray-Ban Smart Glasses

  • Facebook comments can be pinned if they contain an internal link, (but not an external link)

  • Facebook has made some UI changes to Stories creation

  • Messenger is adding GIF notes for any mood

__________


Instagram ✨

Instagram’s new Reels feed algorithm controls | Image: Meta

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Threads 🧵 / WhatsApp 🟢

WhatsApp’s new message translation feature launched | Image: WhatsApp

__________


YouTube 📺

  • YouTube will bring back creators banned for violating Covid and election integrity rules, reversing years of strict moderation

  • YouTube says adblockers, changing habits, and growing content saturation have caused view counts to drop for some creators

  • YouTube says UK government threats to legislate prominence of public service broadcast content are “premature”

  • YouTube now lets creators filter comments by newest and by replies to their own responses

  • YouTube now lets you hide those annoying end-of-video pop-ups with a simple ‘hide’ button

  • YouTube and Delta launch a multi-year inflight deal, bringing creator content to seatback screens.

  • YouTube is rapidly expanding its AI-driven age verification, with a surge in restrictions reported by users this week

  • YouTube launched its likeness detection tool globally for creators in its Partner Program, helping them tackle deepfakes

  • YouTube live-stream creators can now auto-generate Shorts clips post-broadcast using AI

__________


TikTok 📱

TikTok’s new in-app donation tools | Image: TikTok

__________


Snapchat 👻 / LinkedIn 👔

Snapchat’s new stickers keyboard | Image: Snapchat

__________

Bluesky / Twitch / Pinterest / More 🦋

  • Pinterest unveiled top-of-search ads, placing brand promotions in the top 10 results

  • LinkedIn is expanding its AI training to member profiles in the EU and UK from 3 November unless you opt out

  • Bluesky says it’s getting more aggressive about moderation and enforcement, with fewer warnings before facing account restrictions or bans

  • Mastodon now offers paid hosting, moderation, and tech support for fediverse-curious institutions

  • Twitch now lets users rewind livestreams directly from a streamer’s main channel page.

  • Telegram released new features: Gift Marketplace, Sell Your Gifts, Post Several Stories at Once, Split Long Videos into Stories, and Auto Translate Your Channel

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🔥 Want to see more hot NEW features spotted in the wild this week?

Just head to the ‘More news’ section below!

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🤖 SOCIAL AI

The newest social media AI features spotted this week:

Who asked for this? Zuck, I guess?

Whether users want this new Meta video of ‘AI slop’ it is another question entirely…

Meta Launches TikTok-Style Video Feed of AI-Generated ‘Slop’ Called ‘Vibes’

The new feed, called 'Vibes,' will live in the Meta AI app.

Also spotted this week 👀

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🇺🇸 TIKTOK U.S. DEAL UPDATE

All the news you need to know about the deal this week:

The biggest concrete move forward this week was Trump signing an executive order to approve a deal to set up a USA version of TikTok.

But China is yet to sign an actual deal.

Maybe call it ‘The Art of the Executive Order’. The deal’s still to be done, and a lot could yet change…

Trump Signs Off on US TikTok Deal as China Weighs Details

The White House is confident that a deal is done, but Chinese officials seem less assured.

More TikTok U.S deal updates this week:

  • The Trump executive order rolls in Lemon8 and CapCut ,and any other ByteDance apps that might emerge

  • TikTok US investors will likely have to pay billions of dollars in ethically questionable fees to the US government for brokering the deal

    …but TikTok US will have no ‘golden share’ or board seat for Donald Trump or the US government, it’s reported

    …still, critics fear US political manipulation on TikTok, as the board could steer the algorithm toward pro-Republican messaging

    …which could mean a drop in young users among TikTok’s particularly left-wing young audience

  • Donald Trump says Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch could have a stake in TikTok US, even as the President sues the media moguls

  • TikTok is working to make sure Americans still get to see TikTok videos posted from the rest of the world (and vice versa)

…but all these details remain up in the air until ByteDance and the US investors sign a binding agreement that China and the US approve.

And we’re not there yet.

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📈 MEMES

Trump’s unproven Tylenol-autism claims were a source of mockery on social media this week…

Also this week, TikTok was ablaze with #RaptureTok, after a South African pastor predicted Jesus would return to summon true believers to heaven on Tuesday.

As far as I can tell, it didn’t happen 🤷‍♂️

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🌡️ VIRAL

Instagram’s latest viral trend is a scroll-stopping widescreen flex. And social media managers are jumping on it.

A 5120 x 1080 ultra-wide, letterbox video crop is spreading on Instagram.

The trend appears to have started with this video posted by filmmaker Luke Berg (you have to tap to play the video, as the thumbnails of these videos don’t do them justice):

The idea spread fast— with social media managers running some of the world’s biggest brands jumping on the trend:

But my personal favorite? This one from @Channel4 😀

Meta says the trend is completely organic, despite multiple conspiracy theories suggesting it was a stunt sparked by the company.

Some have suggest the format is in preparation for Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses, which capture content in different aspect ratios, or possibly for a new native banner-style ad that sits in the feed. (h/t Sophie Millar)

Ultimately, this is just a pattern disrupt in the feed and is catching people’s attention. And it will likely quickly be overused and lose its novelty.

But it’s fun for now, I guess? 🤷‍♂️

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🪧 BRANDS

A big trend to watch in media is sports rights holders licensing official footage to YouTubers to offer an alternative form of coverage.

It’s a canny way of bringing in new audiences…

Sports rights owners are embracing YouTube creators as their next media partners

More brand news this week: 👀

  • MrBeast, the brand: New CEO Jeff Housenbold is slashing costs and diversifying Beast beyond Jimmy Donaldson. Plans include theme parks, animated shows, and a future IPO

.

🙊 WHAT DID YOU SAY?!

“If we end up misspending a couple of hundred billion dollars, I think that that is going to be very unfortunate, obviously… but what I'd say is I actually think the risk is higher on the other side.”

- Mark Zuckerberg says missing out on ‘superintelligence’ would be worse than wasting R&D cash on an AI bubble

-
Also overheard this week: 👂

  • "Not just because of the awful things he's done in inciting violence, and, for example, he says a civil war in our country is inevitable, that our democratically elected government should be overthrown. They were bad enough. But on his platform, they're examples of adverse, pushing people on self-harm, on grooming, even selling videos showing paedophile acts, of child sex abuse acts and I think he should be held to account for them, him personally and his business.”
    -
    – UK Liberal Democrats leader Si Ed Davey says Elon Musk should be arrested for allowing online harm
    -

  • “I think that is going to be a pretty big thing for us to wrestle with as a society,”
    -
    – Instagram boss Adam Mosseri is steeling himself for a huge increase in AI-generated content on his platform and beyond

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👀 MY FAV READS

Here’s an interesting perspective:

“Lawmakers should require TikTok — and beyond it, all social media platforms — to publish live, searchable databases of their posts, which researchers, journalists and lawmakers can use to track online discourse.

“This wouldn’t deprive the companies of their trade secrets. It would just allow us to check the ingredients on what we’re all consuming.”

Legislators Should Force Social Media Platforms to Tell the Truth

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😮 WTF?!

Shop the Gaza look… there’s a grim idea 😬😳

TikTok is tagging videos from Gaza with TikTok Shop products

Also WTF this week: 👀

  • Meta is accused of torrenting p**n to advance its goal of AI ‘superintelligence’. Strike 3 says Meta used BitTorrent to snatch 2,396 of its adult films for AI training

  • xAI workers say Grok's “sexy” and “unhinged” modes expose them to disturbing sexual content. At least 12 workers encountered AI-generated CSAM

  • Hackers are hijacking LinkedIn profiles to bait tech execs with fake investment pitches.

  • YouTube deleted a channel after it posted 27 Veo-generated videos of women being graphically shot

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🤦‍♂️ FAIL

At the very least, this story is not a good look for Meta:

“Meta has used back-to-school pictures of schoolgirls to advertise one of its social media platforms to a 37-year-old man, in a move parents described as ‘outrageous’ and ‘upsetting’.”

Parents outraged as Meta uses photos of schoolgirls in ads targeting man

Also:

  • Meta failed to deliver key AI chatbot documents to Senator Josh Hawley by a 19 September deadline. Meta says it has begun producing documents, and blames technical issues for the delay

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👔 YOU’RE HIRED!

Hot new social media jobs worth checking out this week:

BBC Three needs a Social Media Manager [London, UK]

More top social media jobs spotted this week 💼

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👌 PRO TIPS

“Spot trending searches, fill content gaps, and reach users where discovery starts with TikTok's Creator Search Insights.”

How to use TikTok Creator Search Insights to find content opportunities

More pro-tips worth checking out ✨

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📊 SOCIAL STATS

£2.2 BILLION

– How much YouTube Creators added to the UK economy in 2024, according to an impact report from Oxford Economics

Even more social stats: 📈

  • CREATING DEMAND: A global survey shows 28% of consumers need 3–4 exposures to a creator’s product promo before purchasing. But 46% of respondents say interest in the promotion is most important, not exposure count

  • DECLINING: X’s Q2 revenue dropped to $707 million, down 2.2% from Q1 despite a post-election ad bump

  • KIMMEL’S BACK: Jimmy Kimmel’s opening monologue after he returned to ABC broke the host’s YouTube views record. It hit 15 million views in 16 hours

  • AD SALES: Social platforms are pulling in 40.6% of all new global ad dollars in 2025.

  • UNSAFERGRAM: A study led by Meta whistleblower Arturo Béjar found 64% of Instagram’s teen safety tools are ineffective

  • NEWSFLASH: 53% of US adults get news from social media, with Facebook leading at 38%

.

📈 CHARTED

How social platforms compare as news sources in America: charted

More charted social insights spotted: 👀.

  • TOPTUBE: YouTube’s share of the streaming slice of the TV pie is close to the whole of broadcast media’s share

  • TIPTOP: TikTok leads on monthly social app users in the US

  • GEN Z INFLUENCERS: Kylie Jenner tops Gen Z Instagram rankings with a staggering 393 million followers.

  • NOT SO SMART?: Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses were slow to take off compared to other gadgets

  • SOCIAL SHOPPING: How teen purchases from ads compare on YouTube Shorts and TikTok

  • NEWSTOK: 1 in 5 Americans now regularly get news on TikTok

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💥 EVEN MORE SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS & UPDATES

Volume of US YouTube shows ‘weakens UK children’s ties to their own culture’

BBC’s head of children’s TV says YouTube’s algorithm takes children to US-based content, rather than UK shows

  • Calls for a minimum age to access social media in the EU have been backed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. [Politico]

  • The UK’s YouTube and TikTok content creators deserve more rights, say MPs. [The Guardian]

  • Meta officially unveiled the American Technology Excellence Project super-PAC to battle state-level AI and tech laws. [Axios]

  • Australia’s social media ban for under-16s could be expanded to platforms like Reddit, Twitch, Steam, and even Lego Play. [The Guardian]

  • X is fighting Australia’s under-16s social media ban, warning it tramples rights and opens doors to overreach. [The Guardian]

  • Meta says it’s “doubling down” on agency support amid rising AI automation. [AdWeek $$$]

  • Discord is being used to radicalise American teens in private chat rooms, new intelligence reports say [NBC News]

  • Snap is offering a 25% discount on Sponsored Snaps, placing ads inside chat feeds. [DigiDay $$$]

  • Snap shares surged 15% in September, its strongest rally in over a year, sparked by hopes TikTok’s U.S. deal will benefit rivals. [Bloomberg $$$]

  • Meta filed to sell wholesale electricity in the US through its new energy subsidiary, Atem. [Bloomberg $$$]

  • The EU is set to block Meta, Apple, Amazon, Google from a new financial data sharing system, over digital sovereignty concerns. [Financial Times $$$]

  • Bill Burr is in talks for a role in Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Network Part II, now in development at Sony. [The Hollywood Reporter]

  • Charities say UK regulator Ofcom is failing to enforce the Online Safety Act with real force. [The Register]

  • A Los Angeles judge ruled that juries can hear from experts on how social media impacts kids. [Bloomberg $$$]

  • Yang Song, a rising star at OpenAI, and a key architect behind DALL·E 2’s breakthroughs, has jumped ship to join Meta’s elite AI lab. [Wired $$$]

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😳 AND FINALLY…

Ever a guy with his eye on the time, Mark Zuckerberg has added a $585,000 prototype timepiece to his growing watch collection.

He was originally offered an official version of the watch, but “Mark Zuckerberg said he asked for the prototype of Greubel Forsey's Nano Foudroyante because he's a ‘builder type of person.’“

…and I’m sure being a billionaire helps!

Mark Zuckerberg says he was offered one of the first models of a $585,000 watch. He got the prototype instead.

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📅 BACK NEXT WEEK…

Talking of time… We are out of it.

And you’ve managed to complete this week’s Geekout. ✅

I’m heading off to hit the shopping mall for a few new threads.

I’m heading off to Ibiza for the closing party at Universe (world’s biggest nightclub / 15,000 people), so I need to liven up my outfit choices.

@dancemusicheat

ELROW never disappoints but looks like they’re pulling out all the stops for UNVRS Ibiza🤯🕺🏻 #elrow #elrowtown #elrowibiza #unvrs #unvrsibi... See more

@dancing.astronaut

@Michael Bibi helped open up Ibiza’s newest club @[UNVRS] with a set at sunrise 🌅 The world-class club features 12-meter windows that ope... See more

i’m hoping I won’t be the oldest raver in town when we land.

Goodbye, geeks!

P.S. This newsletter is edited by Martin SFP Bryant

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