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The main risk that Instagram faces is that as the world changes more rapidly, the platform fails to keep up. Looking forward to 2026, a major shift: authenticity has become infinitely replicable.
Everything that made content creators important — the ability to be real, to communicate, and to have a voice that can’t be faked — is now within reach of anyone with the right tools. Deepfakes are getting better. Al creates images and videos that are indistinguishable from captured media.
Power has shifted from institutions to individuals because the Internet has made it possible for anyone with a compelling idea to find an audience. The cost of distributing information is zero.
Individuals, not publishers or brands, have proven that there is a large market for people-generated content. Trust in organizations is at an all-time low We’ve turned to self-shot content from creators we trust and admire.
We like to complain about the “regression of the AI”, but there is a lot of amazing AI content out there. Even high-quality AI content looks though: too smooth, the skin too soft. That will change – we will see more realistic AI content.
Originality has become a scarce resource, leading to more demand for creators’ content, not less. The bar changes from “Can you create?” to “Can you make something that only you can make?”
Unless you’re under 25, you probably think of Instagram as a feed of square photos: polished makeup, smoothed skin, and beautiful landscapes. That feed is dead. People stopped sharing personal moments to feed them years ago.
The primary way people share now is through direct messages: blurry photos and shaky videos of everyday experiences. Shoe shots. And unflattering honesty.
This raw aesthetic has bled into public content and across art forms.
Camera companies are betting on the wrong aesthetic. They’ve been competing to make everyone look like professional photographers since 2015. But in a world where AI can produce flawless images, looking professional is all the more important.
Attractive images are cheap to produce and boring to consume.
People want content that feels real. Smart content creators tend towards unproductive and unflattering images. In a world where everything can be perfect, imperfection becomes a signal.
Roughness isn’t just an aesthetic preference anymore; it’s evidence of it. It’s defensive. A way of saying: This is true because it is imperfect.
Relatively quickly, the AI will create any aesthetic you want, including an imperfect aesthetic that is presented as authentic. At this point we will need to shift our focus to who is saying something rather than what is being said.
For most of my life, I could safely assume that photos or videos were largely accurate snapshots of moments that happened. This is clearly no longer the case and it will take years to adapt.
We will move from assuming that what we see is real by default, to starting to question it. Pay attention to who is sharing something and why. This would be uncomfortable, as we are genetically predisposed to believe our own eyes.
Platforms like Instagram will do a good job of identifying AI content, but they will get worse over time as the AI improves. Recording real media will be more practical than fake media.
Camera manufacturers will cryptographically sign images when they are captured, creating a chain of custody.
Labeling is only part of the solution. We need to surface much more
Context around accounts’ sharing content so people can make informed decisions. Who is behind the account?
In a world of infinite abundance and infinite uncertainty, creatives who can maintain trust and signal authenticity – by being real, transparent and consistent – will stand out.
We need to build better creative tools. Label your AI-generated content and verify the original content. Superficial credibility signals about who is posting. Continue to improve the rankings for authenticity.
Instagram will have to evolve in many ways, and quickly.