Today I visited my Instagram profile and I noticed that the grid on my profile now displayed the previews of photos in rectangles instead of squares. This crops the previews of my photos so awkwardly that in some cases it is difficult to tell what is in the photo. To say I am not happy with Instagram is an understatement.
As to why Instagram would make what in my opinion is a rather ridiculous change, according to an article on The Verge, Instagram's head Adam Mosseri said in an Instagram story, "I know some of you really like your squares. And square photos are sort of the heritage of Instagram. But at this point, most of what’s uploaded, both photos and videos, are vertical in their orientation," I am not sure where Mr. Mosseri is getting his information and it may well be accurate, but going by the accounts I follow, most photos are still square. The videos are often rectangular and vertical, but as of yet I still see more photos in my feed than videos. Quite simply, from what I have seen, there is no reason Instagram should have changed from squares to rectangles where previews in one's profile grid is concerned.
Of course, whether or not photos or videos are more common on the platform,. Instagram should really look to the user as to how the previews in their profile grid are displayed. Someone who posts mostly videos might well like the new grid that displays rectangles instead of profiles. Someone like me, who posts mostly photos, will probably hate it. After all, my photos are now very aggressively cropped in the grid previews. The over all effect is so unappealing that I am going through and adjust the previews of my photos one by one. Given I have been on Instagram since 2011, it is going to take a long time for me to complete it.
My suggestion is then that Instagram give people a choice of how their grids look. They could have a place in settings where one can choose between squares in one's grid or rectangles in one's grid. I would certainly choose squares. As it is, I do not appreciate having to go through and adjust the previews of my photos in the grid due to a bad choice on Instagram's part.
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