The reason why Instagram added a button to repost reels and made our likes visible in those floating bubbles is because it needs, at all costs, to show that there are still real people on this platform and that they are still interacting with each other.
Hi, I'm Laura, I have a master's degree in Communication and Information and I'm an undergraduate student in Internet Systems. Today I want to discuss how Instagram is facing a legitimacy crisis and using insidious design features to hide it.
If we think back to when we first joined, we wanted to connect with friends. But that purpose is lost. Instagram has ignored our curation and completely randomized our feed, prioritizing creators—often of dubious quality—who simply manage to hold our attention.
Furthermore, with 70% of social media posts being generated by AI, fewer people are posting about their real lives. Instagram needs ways to convince us that a form of social media still exists between us and our friends.
We feel safer consuming and reposting bad content if we see that our friends have approved it. These features are strategic and designed to give the impression that algorithmic recommendations have been validated by real humans.
The algorithm IS NOT NEUTRAL. It uses our social circles to legitimize its own interests and keep us engaged in a feed that is increasingly artificial and less about real connection.
This reflection is important because it helps us make more conscious use of the platform—exactly the opposite of what it wants. We need to look past the bubbles and understand the logic of the interface.
Ultimately, the essential question that emerges is: are we still connecting with people, or just validating the algorithm's choices for each other? I want to know if you've noticed these "social" bubbles in the comments.