Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Instagram Could Lose to TikTok in Both Photos and Videos

Instagram Could Lose to TikTok in Both Photos and Videos

As Instagram continues to focus on video, Generation Z are posting their photos on TikTok instead. Could Instagram lose out on both formats?

TikTok’s domination in short-form video is not the only thing Instagram should be worried about. In the time that Instagram has shifted ever further away from its roots as a photo-sharing app, Generation Z has found a new space to post their selfies and photo-dumps — and that’s TikTok.

As Instagram pushes full-steam ahead with its plan to focus on short-form video, TikTok has gradually become the app of choice for younger users to spill the contents of their camera roll.

Whereas once Instagram was a breeding ground for the latest photo trend, that space seems to be increasingly taken up by TikTok. In October last year, Mashable reported on the growing trend for Generation Z users to post their photo dumps on TikTok, rather than Instagram.

The TikTok iteration of a photo dump is similar to Instagram photo dumps but not limited to ten pictures. TikTok users can select as many images from their camera roll as they want and then edit the collection of images — either on TikTok itself or on an external mobile video editor like Splice — to curate a rapid video of their best moments in photographs.


On Tiktok, the tag #photodump currently boasts 1.6 billion views, while Instagram has 1.8 million posts for the same hashtag.

With Instagram prioritizing Reels over stills, the world’s biggest photo-sharing app no longer promises the same level of engagement for images it once did and so younger users are turning to TikTok instead. In turn, this has spawned several other photo trends on TikTok that are unique to the app.

A trend, dating back to March 2021, encourages TikTok users to post the last 10 photos they saved on their phones — while the more recent #last5photos trend asks them to only share the last five images on the camera roll.

Meanwhile, the #27photochallenge trend invites TikTok users to add 27 of the best photographs they have taken and make it sync to a sound by the band Harmless. This challenge has over 32.4 million views and appears to be popular with younger users as well as professional photographers on the app.

TikTok’s viral #ThePhoto trend has also swept the platform with 2.4 billion views and asks users to post the best selfie or photo of themselves while comparing it to how they look now.


According to Bustle, the popularity of #ThePhoto on TikTok is that it’s reminiscent of the nostalgic joy of finding a great photograph of oneself in the early 2000s then posting it on Instagram or Facebook, and eagerly waiting for the likes and comments to roll in. The thrill of getting that perfect shot for social media has been re-imagined into a new trend for TikTok.

A recent report revealed how the constant pivots by tech giants like Instagram have worn on Generation Z and led them to look elsewhere online. It’s clear that younger users are still keen to showcase their photography on social media, but are simply curating and repurposing their images for TikTok.


The continuing relevance of photography for Generation Z is further evident given the soaring popularity of photo-sharing app BeReal, which continues to hold onto the number one spot in the U.S. on Apple’s App Store charts — even beating TikTok.

Still photography is not the dying form Meta makes it out to be and so it is very possible that Instagram may not only lose to TikTok in terms of video but will cede photography, too.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
×