Bite Size Comms

The person who runs Instagram posted a carousel, naturally on Instagram, about the type of content that we will see on the platform in 2026. Adam Mosseri said that the Instagram known by over 25-year-olds – of professionally shot images or video, carefully composed or choreographed, and of well-manicured people – was dead. Instead, Instagram’s algorithm would rank wonky videos or blurred images. Sounds weird? Why would Instagram want to promote low-quality content? The reason is AI.  Adam admits that AI slop is all over Instagram and every other platform. AI produces perfect imagery, video, or grammatically correct text (if you are American).  He says that originality, realism and credibility are all under pressure. People are getting tired of AI slop. They trust it less. Adam is pushing hard that AI-generated content on his platform must be labelled as such. He wants rawness in the content.

I joined an interesting conversation on LinkedIn about how to avoid being accused of using AI. I said that I know someone who makes spelling or grammar mistakes on purpose. I never let on that the person was me! Instagram’s policy is a step beyond that.

Is this a good thing? Will we see less AI slop and more original talent and raw content? I’m not sure it is a simple issue to fix.

An example. I am an amateur photographer, a member of the Royal Photographic Society. I enter photo competitions, and some of my travel photographs are licensed by Getty Images. Many professional photographers, like those who shoot for National Geographic Traveller that I read, use Instagram as their main way to share and showcase their images. They will fall foul of the new Instagram policy.

The Telegraph recently listed tell-tale signs to spot written AI-created content:

• The em-dash
• American spelling
• Emphases bold or italicised
• Three adjectives together
• Overuse of cliches
• End of paragraph summaries
• Dubious quotes from people like Churchill
• Strange phrases or nonsense statements.

I would like to add two more to this list:

• Over capitalisation: headings, sub-headings, and terms like art nouveau.
• Floury words like utilise instead of use.

Then again, many of us use some of these signs stylistically. I used hyphens in the first paragraph to improve clarity. I was taught to always italicise foreign words (although not American ones!). I use the BBC Style Guide as my reference tool. As George Orwell said, “Break any rule sooner than say anything outright barbarous” (yeah, see what I just did by including a quote?).

In summary, (hee hee, I did that on purpose too), I think it is about: ‘Does it appear original, real?’ We have moved on from ‘authenticity’ and how the content looks, to more about who made it and why. Wonky video and blurred images are fine if they were produced in a meaningful way by a human. The new word is ‘raw’. I’ve noticed a tendency to frown upon commentary or viewpoints that prompt people to think. I have lost income because of using LinkedIn for that purpose after being told by a major organisation to delete my LinkedIn content. Is it someone’s personal viewpoint or experience, or a bog-standard company/organisation one crafted by AI? It is not just AI that tries to standardise how we communicate. So do people.

[Image of Instagram symbol by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash]