In the last few weeks, I’ve come across a lot of posts lamenting how Instagram is strong arming its users away from the photo/caption format they know and love, and into the realms of short-form video.
This Tiktok esque evolution is being met with mixed opinions (@amycousins1 - nail on the head!), but one of the bugbears that stands out most, is that by leading from a point of ‘fun’ and light-heartedness, many of those users with a more serious niche, are finding it increasingly difficult to communicate with their audiences.
After the longest time blogging on all things health, the conundrum of how to translate mental and emotional health musings, especially, into lip-sync and music, represented an unprecedented challenge.
On the one hand, there was potentially an opportunity in the ‘humour aspect’ of reels, to make some fairly difficult topics more digestible, particularly for the younger masses. On the flip side, however, those whose learning language can’t be streamed through a one minute audio, might well find they ‘miss the memo’ if - as many fear - reels become social media’s primary mouthpiece for health content.
What’s important to note therefore, especially before outsourcing all our content to reels, is that what photos might lack in algorithm-appeasing stimulus, they can more than make up for in traditional words-and-pictures appeal. Especially in the silent-mode hours, a snap shot still has the power to out-speak any trending sound, and this is something we shouldn’t lose sight of in a bid to ‘keep current.’
What I have deduced, with all of the above in mind, is that reels shouldn’t be a hoop that Instagram users HAVE to jump through, but rather an optional string to the social media marketing bow, which ensures gaining one audience… isn’t at the expense of another.
For this to happen, will obviously depend on how the pecking order for posts vs reels transpires, but in the meantime, I’m digging my ‘standard post’ heels in…for all those who aren’t quite there with being life-coached by lip sync at 1am.