This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Fainite Auguste. Find her on Instagram at @ceilingdancing. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
One of the most popular social is suffering yet another failure. Instagram’s newest feature, Flipside is shut down. But what went wrong with it?
What is Instagram?
Instagram is a social media network. It is primarily a photo-sharing platform known for its filters. You may remember in the 2010s celebrities used the Mayfair filter on all of their posts.
It also has an explore page where people can search other users, photos, and videos. The hashtags are also a big part of the platform, it allows posts to circulate to specific audiences. Posts can be shared publicly or with only certain followers using the private feature in settings.
The Rise of Instagram
Instagram became popular with millions of people millennials specifically. Most 2010’s social media was targeted toward millennials because they were the new generation. For millennials social media and technology slowly became a part of everyday life. The internet was still new and people’s attention spans weren’t ruined. People posted just about everything from their breakfasts to their everyday outfits. The internet recently dubbed the 2012 to 2016 Instagram the “casual” era. Celebrities like Taylor Swift used the app to connect with fans and show parts of their everyday lives. Instagram made celebrities feel relatable and accessible. It also made it easier to sell products to wider audiences without using annoying popup ads.
Celebrities, models, and popular Instagram users became the ones selling people products on their Instagram accounts. An example of this are those flat tummy detox teas that the Kardashians used to market to people. When their fanbase did buy and consume the teas they were met with extremely irritable bowls instead of flat tummies. But it’s not really the products that mattered by the lifestyle the influencers are selling. Companies often send influencers on brand trips, unfortunately there is always some form of drama that forms. The 2018 Dote brand trip gained a lot of attention after people found out Black influencers were put in separate smaller rooms. The makeup brand Tarte also received its fair share of controversy for racism.
The Downfall of Instagram
In 2012, Meta also known as Facebook, bought Instagram. Meta made many updates and improvements to the platform. In 2013 the app was updated to include video content along with direct messaging, now lovingly referred to as DMs. As an attempt to compete with Snapchat Instagram added a story feature. This update was probably their best update.
There were also many big mistakes. In 2020 Instagram added the shop feature on the website and app. It centered purchases and products, which was not what users wanted. It seems like TikTok is falling into the same trap. You may have missed it as it was only there for a week but Instagram recently added a preview feature on users stories. In my opinion it made the the app look tacky and confused me on whether or not I’ve viewed the story.
What was Flipside?
What is Flipside Instagram feature? This feature allowed users to create a private space. This was intended to be different from Instagram’s close friend feature. It did the same thing as close friends, It lets users share personal content with a selected group of friends. The issue with this was Instagram was trying to create the same atmosphere as a “Finsta” also known as a fake Instagram. The reason Finstas are so popular is because it happened organically. I hadn’t heard of Flipside until May of this year. It was available January 2024 and the developers are got rid of the feature on May 24th, 2024.
Instagram’s Flipside feature was probably removed due to it not seeing traction among users. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a need for it, as previously stated users already have close friends, private accounts, and Finsta. For the few people who did use it, their content uploaded on the accounts using this feature is saved in Instagram’s archive.
Did you use Flipside while it was still alive? Let us know!
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