Instagram to overhaul app as number of users pass 3 billion

Social media app will now prioritise Reels to encourage further user growth

A phone displaying the Instagram social media logo in Kerlouan in Brittany in France on 25 February 2025 (Getty Images)

Instagram has become the third app to pass 3 billion users, joining fellow Meta platforms Facebook and WhatsApp to pass the milestone.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Instagram had reached 3 billion monthly active users, just eight months after Facebook achieved the same feat.

The announcement comes as Instagram unveiled an overhaul of the social media app, which will change its home screen to prioritise direct messages and Reels.

Instagram Head Adam Mosseri said the changes were designed to encourage further growth of the app.

“Messaging, reels, and recommendations have driven most of our recent growth. So, over the next few months, we’re going to better organize the app around those features,” Mr Mosseri said in a post to Instagram.

“We’ll soon start testing a way for you to tune your algorithm by adding and removing topics based on your interests, starting with Reels. We hope this will be a meaningful new way to shape what you see.”

An Instagram spokesperson told The Independent that Reels would be moved to the second tab in the app’s navigation bar, while DMs will be brought into the middle tab.

Instagram has faced criticism from some users for the changes to its feed, which has evolved from a photo-sharing app among friends, to one that increasingly emphasises video from content creators and influencers.

Two of the app’s most high-profile users, Kim Kardashian and her sister Kylie Jenner, both shared a graphic in 2022 calling on the platform to “make Instagram Instagram again”.

The post added: “Stop trying to be TikTok, I just want to see cute photos of my friends.”

Mr Mosseri responded at the time that users would still see photos, but that video had been the main driver of growth and engagement.

“If you look at what people share on Instagram, that’s shifting more to videos over time,” he said.

“If you look at what people like and consume and view on Instagram, that’s also shifting more and more to video over time, even when we stop charging anything.”