Instagram is currently experimenting with a new vertical grid layout on user profiles, moving away from the traditional square-shaped thumbnail images to longer stills within the feed, as you might have noticed in the app.
In this example shared by digital marketing expert Lindsey Gamble, some Instagram profiles have already adopted this new, updated grid format. This layout is particularly suited to videos, especially Reels, with posts now adapting to this style.
“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 could only upload square photos to Instagram. And I know this can be annoying for some of you who really spend a lot of time curating and making sure everything lines up, but I would really like to do better by the content [creators of] today. And the vast majority of what is uploaded to Instagram today is vertical; it’s either 4:3 in a photo or 9:16 in a video, and cropping it down to a square is pretty brutal, so I’m hoping we can figure out a way to manage this transition.” — Instagram CEO
While the change might seem minor, simply making your images rectangular and giving each panel more space in the grid, the visual impact could be significant. It might also raise user expectations around video content, as these longer images are traditionally associated with video on the platform.
It’s definitely something to keep an eye on, as Instagram is clearly moving towards re-aligning its platform with a stronger focus on video content, in response to shifting user behaviors.
