Instagram, TikTok, and the Three Trends

Sure, some number of people continued to use Instagram primarily as a social network, but Meta, more than anyone, had an understanding of how Instagram usage had evolved over time.

The payoff, though, will not be “power” for these small creators: the implication of entertainment being dictated by recommendations and AI instead of reputation and ranking is that all of the power accrues to the platform doing the recommending.

In recommendation media, content is not distributed to networks of connected people as the primary means of distribution. Instead, the main mechanism for the distribution of content is through opaque, platform-defined algorithms that favor maximum attention and engagement from consumers. The exact type of attention these recommendations seek is alw

... See more