State of Content: Social Media is dead. What's next?

Instagram's new brand campaign says your identity is 'Yours to Make'​

Here's the Headline: Goodbye social media, hello creator economy.

Here's the News: In a move to keep up with competitors like Youtube and TikTok, head of Instagram Adam Mosseri announced that the company has pivoted to lean more into entertainment and video. So if you've seen more Reels and suggested posts from users you don't follow, it's because Instagram wants to be known as a general entertainment app driven by video and algorithms, not a "square photo-sharing app".

Here's why it's interesting: There's both good and not so good resulting from this news. First, the good. This move seems to be indicative of the nail in the coffin for the social media model that defined Web 2.0. This is the latest in a long list of decided shifts by social media platforms to transform themselves into creator platforms like TikTok, Youtube/ and Patreon. Instead of pushing for surface level connection, social media platforms are shifting their focus to the creator– and more importantly, the video creator. Why the shift? Look no further than TikTok. Hate it or love it, this platform is showing the power that entertainment content has to build audiences and attract eyeballs for hours on end. And that's the ultimate goal for any platform– to spend as much of your life in their walled garden as you can. So if you're a brand side creative, a strategist, or a CMO, understand that these platforms are no longer places for our brands to talk about themselves and pay people to pay attention. It's time to focus less on your branded messages, and more on the creators that will deliver those messages to their audiences.

So this should mean good things for all creators right? Well, it may depend on what kind of creator you are. Which leads me to the not so good.

This transition to embrace entertainment content has manifested a new class of creator. For the sake of this article, let's call them entertainment creators. For this new class, content creation isn't all about being the best in your craft. It's about being entertaining, funny, and even informative. But what is consistent for entertainment creators is a layer of relatability that usually results in purposefully lower fidelity, bite sized, and primarily video content. But if this move from Instagram was made to cater more to these entertainment creators, then what does that mean for more "traditional" creators like photographers and videographers? Creators that prioritize craft, fidelity, and storytelling above all else. In other words, if Instagram is no longer a photo sharing app, then where do these creators go to share their photos? I've seen so many creators get their start through Instagram and build community through their content. And talking to some of these creators, I know that they actually wish there were more places to share their photos, which makes sense. If you spend a great deal and time and money on equipment and storytelling, you want to be able to share it with the largest audience you can. So this could be a big blow to these creators as Instagram's algorithm starts to more heavily prioritize entertaining video surfaces like Reels and Live.

Here's what to do about it if you're a brand/agency: First, be optimistic. As creative people we should always be happy when platforms like these promote creativity, whatever their motives may be. So for brands and agencies, this shift to embrace the creator economy should inspire new directions for how we talk about our brands and products. Instead of the massive media spends that have become synonymous with advertising, tell your stories through the voices of creators that share the same values as your company– endearing your brand to their audiences as well as your own. For Sprite, I helped launch Sprite Way, a program that moved away from pursuing the flavor-of-the-month rapper to sling sodas for us and instead used Sprite's social media channels to find and spotlight up-and-coming creators that needed a platform to make it to the next level of their careers. And for Uber, when they wanted to announce their initiative to donate 10 million free rides to help people get the vaccine, we created a roster of "trusted messengers" led by Spike Lee and Tyler Mitchell to authentically deliver the message to their vaccine-hesitant audiences. The ad spending we've seen in years past will continue to plummet as brands realize their route to sustained success hinges on embracing creators and their audiences.

Here's what to do about it if you're a creator: If you're just a regular-old creator like me and not one of these new entertainment creators, it could still be easy to feel left behind. But there are some things we can do without selling out and abandoning our cameras in favor of learning the newest dance craze. These new platform algorithms may not be prioritizing your exact type of content anymore, but that doesn't mean you can't still make them work in your favor. For example, if you're excited to share some stills from your latest photoshoot, instead of posting a carousel on Instagram, you can create a Reel that combines your photos with music and BTS to tell the story behind your shoot. You can even try to transform it into a How-To. In other words, use the new algorithms and surfaces to point back to the content you're making. Photographer Jeremy Cohen is one of the best exemplifiers of this.

And finally, create owned places for you to share your work. Whether it be algorithms or monetization, these platforms continually show us that they are willing and able to change the rules on us without warning. Even if you are an entertainment creator that is reaping the benefits of the new algorithms, that algorithm can change at any time. Building our audiences and content empires on rented land keeps everyone at the whim of these decisions. So it's time to stop putting all of our eggs in their baskets. This news should prompt creators to step back and view these platforms as just a part of their overall content mix. And more importantly, use the eyeballs gained from posting across different platforms to drive people to a platform that you own. This way you can control monetization and what your audience gets to see. 

It won't be easy, but there is a way forward for all of us. Let’s use this as an opportunity to put ourselves in the driver’s seat.