I miss the old Instagram – but the last thing I need is a clone from TikTok

I remember when Instagram first launched back in 2010, and all my mates at school were crowded around my friend’s iPhone 4 making our Instagram accounts and brainstorming cool handle ideas. Things have changed so much since then, and I truly miss the ‘old’ Instagram. That being said, I don’t think I miss it enough to have TikTok step in and try to fill in the gap.

A notification on the app stated that TikTok is gearing up to release a photo-sharing app for users to post their pictures, called TikTok Notes, which will also convert “existing and future public TikTok photo posts” into posts on the new platform. Currently, Tiktok users can post photo slideshows against music tracks, so it’s safe to assume these will be translated to Instagram-esque posts on the new platform. 

According to The Verge, TikTok states that it’s “exploring ways to empower our community to create and share their creativity with photos and text in a dedicated space for those formats”. So, from that, we can assume you’ll also be able to add captions to your Notes posts as well. 

Could TikTok actually take Instagram on? 

People have been done with Instagram for a while now. The idea of posting to the general public has been left largely to the influencer types, with most people I know having their Instagram account set to private and reserved for friends and family or using their ‘Finstas’ exclusively.  Finstas, or fake Instagrams, became super popular among young people in 2016 and onwards – a tool for those who wanted to keep using Instagram but have a section carved out to be themselves and post without worrying about having perfect photos.

Finstas still did not save Instagram from being labeled a wasteland of a platform. Where Instagram is a lot more controlled in terms of its feed, TikTok has an interesting setup in that publicly posted videos could be thrown across to anyone on the app, no matter if you’re mutually following people or not. So, it would be interesting to see how this translates to a photo-based app. 

TikTok is an insanely popular app and the fact that the new app will be incorporating already existing photo posts could give it the head start it needs to compete with Instagram. I’m assuming it’ll be a similar case to Instagram Threads, where everyone is already allocated an account and you simply have to activate it. That opens the door to TikTok’s estimated one billion monthly active users to log in and try the app out.

Of course, not every social media doppelganger is guaranteed success. The downfall of Twitter (sorry, ‘X’) brought on several other similar apps like Mastodon and Bluesky, and despite how awful things have been on Twitter they’re not really seeing massive numbers that would make them as big as the app they’re replacing. Threads seemed to be a guaranteed hit given the number of already-established Instagram accounts, but it only has 160 monthly million users, compared to X’s 250 million daily active users. I honestly think X would have to be wiped off the web and our phones before people flocked to any of the alternatives. 

Overall though, TikTok Notes has the social media scene buzzing with anticipation. TikTok’s smart move to integrate existing photo content and its massive user base could challenge Instagram’s reign. Though, history teaches us that not every alternative is a winner. As TikTok Notes prepares to debut, we can only speculate about its potential to topple Instagram – or forge its own path in the digital realm.