Instagram Hits 3 Billion Monthly Users as Meta Doubles Down on Reels In a significant milestone for the social media giant, Instagram has now reached 3 billion monthly active users. Mark Zuckerberg announced the figure, highlighting the app’s continued growth from the 2 billion user mark it hit in 2022. This growth comes as Meta, Instagram’s parent company, is preparing to make substantial changes to the platform, with a clear focus on enhancing its short-form video feature, Reels. While Meta does not frequently disclose specific user numbers for its individual apps, the scale of its ecosystem is immense. Facebook reported 2 billion daily users in 2023, and WhatsApp surpassed 2 billion monthly users back in 2020. In the last quarter, Meta revealed that an astounding 3.48 billion people use at least one of its core apps, which include Facebook, Messenger, and WhatsApp, on a daily basis. This new user announcement coincides with reports of a major redesign for Instagram. According to information shared by Instagram executive Adam Mosseri, the app will soon feature a redesigned navigation bar that gives more prominence to private messaging and Reels. This shift in design underscores the company’s strategic priorities. In a more significant test, Meta will allow users in South Korea and India to set the Reels video feed as their default experience when opening the app. This move is not entirely unprecedented; the recently launched Instagram app for iPad already defaults to the Reels feed, a decision Meta says is intended to reflect how people consume content on larger screens. The timing of these changes is notable. They arrive as the US government appears to be nearing an agreement that would transfer control of the US operations of TikTok to a consortium of American investors. For over a year, TikTok’s future in its largest market has been uncertain due to geopolitical tensions. Despite this prolonged period of instability, TikTok has remained a powerful competitor, particularly challenging Instagram’s dominance in the short-form video space. Meta’s aggressive push to integrate Reels more deeply into the Instagram experience is widely seen as a direct strategy to compete with TikTok. By making Reels a central, and potentially default, part of the app, Meta aims to capture more user attention and engagement, hoping to solidify Instagram’s position as the leading platform for visual content and social video. The milestone of 3 billion users demonstrates the immense reach Meta has to work with as it implements these competitive changes.
