Instagram’s square profile grid is legendary. It’s been a hallmark of the social media platform ever since the decision was made to focus on image sharing and the name Instagram was adopted (it was originally called Burbn).
But now, after more than a decade, 1:1 grids are a thing of the past. If you’ve logged onto your Instagram account over the past day or two, you’ll likely have noticed that your profile has shifted from the classic 1:1 grid to 4:5 portrait-orientation rectangles.
That said, I've got several Instagram profiles and one of them is still displaying a square grid. It's also worth pointing out that – as of yet – profiles still appear to be 1:1 grids on desktop. But then again, mobile's where it matters.
Still, it's no biggie… right? You can still post images in square and landscape orientations. And the majority of your engagement doesn't even come from your grid, but from your followers’ news feeds. And for somebody like me, who never did anything fancy with their grid, it’s not the end of the world.
But if you’re somebody who heavily curates your grid to form larger images or posts 1:1 images with text, your profile probably looks like a bit of a mess now, with jumbled large-scale grid images and text that’s cropped into. If that’s the case, you’re probably rather peeved – and I’m right with you.
Why, Instagram, WHY?
So why has Instagram made the move to portrait grids? Well, for starters, this hasn’t come out of the blue, it’s a change that’s been threatened for a while – as we wrote last year, Instagram's boss warned it's about to break your curated feed back in August.
Drawing on that same article by The Verge, Instagram head honcho, Adam Mosseri, was quoted as saying: ““The vast majority of what is uploaded to Instagram today is vertical”. And as even slightly savvy Instagram users know, portrait-orientation imagery tends to garner the most engagement – something that’s irked photographers in the past.
The fact is, Instagram Reels are now many Instagrammers' bread and butter. And as the platform has shifted to become more and more video-centric over the years, a portrait-orientation grid does make sense. But it’s the timing that I find particularly cynical.
We all know that Instagram’s (and indeed Facebook’s) biggest rival is now TikTok. And with TikTok still facing the potential abyss, there’s arguably never been a better time for Instagram to fill the void. I could be wrong, but I cannot believe it's a coincidence that Meta chose to roll out portrait-orientation grids on the same weekend that TikTok was banned in the US.
Are there any positives?
The fact of the matter is that big changes like this do affect people. As we’ve seen with TikTok, like it or not, social media is big business (or rather, small business). Plenty of photographers, content creators and independent retailers rely on their social media pages to promote their livelihoods. Changes to the formula can be scary.
I'm not as invested as many people. Instagram hasn’t made me feel particularly welcome as a photographer for a long time now, so really the grid change – however annoying – is much of a muchness. But if you’re afraid this could affect you and your business, maybe this is a chance to start afresh.
You could see this as an opportunity to cull your existing grid and set about creating a whole new one. Maybe it's your chance to finally set up a regular Instagram posting schedule or finally start investing more time creating Reels. Who knows, perhaps this could be the start of your profile taking off. Here’s to turning over a new leaf!
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If you're social media minded then check out these 10 tips for Instagram success with your photography. Maybe it's time to make Instagram Instagram again – stop trying to be TikTok! And if you predominantly create Instagram content using your phone, here are the best camera phones.
