Instagram gets worse with dark patterns removed from TikTok

I got a brand new Instagram UI the other day. Although the company hasn't rolled it out to all users yet, the changes appear to be in line with its intention to move away from its original friend-to-friend photo-sharing model, to one pioneered by TikTok: displaying as much targeted video content algorithmically as possible. and foster engagement where possible.

The new user interface is clearly inspired by TikTok, in the same way that Instagram has regularly been "inspired" by its more innovative rivals, such as when they cloned Stories from Snapchat. In this case, they took the opportunity to bring in some bad habits and troubling choices, all quite clearly intended to improve their metrics and force users to interact with content on app terms. I asked Instagram if and when the new UI will come to everyone and got no response, but I'll update if I do.

The first thing I noticed was that I could no longer mute or unmute videos (sorry, Reels™) by tapping on them. This has always been a user-friendly feature, as millions of people check their streams in public places where the loud cheering or musical blitz of a random sponsored video would be an unpleasant surprise to everyone within 20 feet. The safest guess was that the sound was muted until you tapped it.

Now pressing something just pauses or reactivates it. Okay, that still makes it quiet - why is that a problem? Because what they've done is add friction to consuming content the way you choose. If you want Instagram to be silent, you have to put your whole phone in silent mode.

Imagine that makes noise. At least you can see that I trained my search page well. Image credits: Devin Coldwey/TechCrunch

I don't know about you, but my phone is set to vibrate all the time, but it's not "silent". I literally have no idea what volume my phone is set to at any given time, as some apps have their own volume levels, others take over the system, and so on. Sometimes my music is quiet because I turned it down for a game (or, now, for Instagram). How many clicks of the volume down button will it take for this budding viral video, probably a TikTok screenshot, to go silent? Impossible to say. That's why I appreciated the default silent mode or at least knowing that a single tap would silence the app without affecting the rest of the phone.

Dark patterns are often less about deception than about direction. Here, Instagram wants you to be inconvenienced by the process of muting a video so you can engage with it more fully, perhaps Remix™ the Reel™ by hitting the little round soundtrack button - another Instagram original! Instead of giving you the choice, they weigh heavily in choosing which side they would like to see more of. This is all out of the standard Meta playbook for manipulating user behavior.

The other big UI change is the switch from classic infinite scrolling to an element-by-element flipping style, which is also very reminiscent of TikTok. Obviously it's been successful in this app, and if you're focusing on video content, it makes some sense: when a video is playing, you want to show the whole image so you don't miss the start. With images it doesn't matter as much, you can take your time scrolling.

Why is it a dark pattern? Well, again, it's about controlling how you experience the content. In an infinite scrolling stream, it feels like it's some kind of timeline, a long stream that you scroll through. You can let messages go and stop them with your finger when you see something interesting, or a message from a friend rather than a meme account.

With post-by-post scrolling, you're forced to fully engage with each image or video, if only for a split second, before moving on. Again, it's not that you can't fast forward but that Instagram puts the finger on the scales: every bit of storytelling...