Last Updated on September 4, 2024
Instagram is experimenting with a significant update to profile pages by transforming the grid squares into vertical rectangles. Recent observations by users have revealed this test, and there have been signs since at least 2022 that Instagram has been exploring a rectangular grid format.
In an Instagram story from Friday, Adam Mosseri explained,
“Most uploads on Instagram today are vertical either 4 by 3 for photos or 9 by 16 for videos. Reducing these to squares is quite harsh.”
Mosseri also mentioned that squares were relevant when Instagram only allowed square photos, a restriction that was lifted in 2015. He acknowledged that the new profile layout might frustrate users who have carefully arranged their grids but emphasized the need to better accommodate current content formats.
Instagram spokesperson Christine Pai stated, “We are testing a vertical profile grid with a small group of users. This is a limited trial, and we will consider community feedback before making any broader changes.”
If you’ve carefully designed your profile grid around squares, you might need to adjust to a future where those squares could turn into rectangles.
What Adam Mosseri Said:
We’re actually testing a vertical grid, for those of you who haven’t seen it yet, for your profile, instead of squares. Now, squares are from way back in the day when you can only upload square photos to Instagram. I know this can be annoying for some of you who really spent a lot of time curating and making sure everything lines up, but I would really like to do better by the content today. The vast majority of what is uploaded to Instagram today is vertical. It’s either 4 by 3 in a photo or 9 by 16 in a video, and cropping it down to square is pretty brutal. So, I’m hoping we can figure out a way to manage this transition.