Instagram Boss to Decamp to London to Expand Global Push
The head of Instagram plans to temporarily relocate to London this year to help bolster operations there, according to a spokeswoman for parent
Meta Platforms Inc.,
META -0.02%
a move that comes amid a wave of user backlash over new features that make the app more like its video-centric rival TikTok.
Adam Mosseri,
who has led Instagram since 2018, will focus on supporting the platform’s product team as it works to attract more content creators and help them earn a living on it, the spokeswoman said. She declined to share specifics on Mr. Mosseri’s plans. London is already Meta’s largest engineering hub outside the U.S., she said, with more than 4,000 employees in the city.
Meta Chief Executive
Mark Zuckerberg
has been working to overhaul almost every aspect of the company’s operations, including by adding more video content, in what analysts say amounts to one of the biggest sets of changes in years for the parent of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. Earlier this year, Meta ramped up its counterattack against TikTok by launching its short-video product Reels for all global Facebook users. Reels first launched on Instagram in 2020 in the U.S.
Meta faces formidable competition from Chinese-owned TikTok, which surpassed one billion monthly active users in September 2021. TikTok’s usage surpassed that of Meta’s Instagram among teenagers in November 2021, according to
Forrester Research Inc.
Mr. Mosseri has been central to Meta’s effort to build Instagram, which made its name as a photo-sharing platform more than a decade ago and has more recently focused on video to become a more formidable competitor to TikTok. His temporary assignment to London was earlier reported by the Financial Times.
The Instagram revamp has run into criticism, though, from some users, including celebrities Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian, who called on the platform to stop introducing features that make it more like TikTok.
Mr. Mosseri responded to the uproar in a video saying that Instagram was shifting toward videos while it attempts to stay committed to creators, to support photos and to put friends’ content at the top of a user’s feed. Meta walked back some of the new Instagram features at the center of the hubbub just hours after Mr. Zuckerberg defended their arrival.
The overseas stint for the senior Meta executive isn’t out of the norm for the company. Unlike other tech companies that have recently been calling employees back to their offices, many members of Meta’s management team, including Mr. Zuckerberg, have scattered to locations far from its Silicon Valley headquarters. Before his recent move to London, Mr. Mosseri had worked remotely from locations including Hawaii, Los Angeles and Cape Cod.
Meta last week posted its first-ever revenue loss for the June-ended quarter and its stock price is down more than 50% this year. In addition to competition from TikTok, Meta is grappling with a declining user base and a slowdown in digital advertising hampered by macroeconomic trends.
During the quarter, Meta saw a 30% increase in the time that users are engaging with Reels, Mr. Zuckerberg said on an earnings call last week. The company said it doesn’t yet make money off Reels at the levels of some of its other features.
Write to Sarah E. Needleman at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
The head of Instagram plans to temporarily relocate to London this year to help bolster operations there, according to a spokeswoman for parent
Meta Platforms Inc.,
META -0.02%
a move that comes amid a wave of user backlash over new features that make the app more like its video-centric rival TikTok.
Adam Mosseri,
who has led Instagram since 2018, will focus on supporting the platform’s product team as it works to attract more content creators and help them earn a living on it, the spokeswoman said. She declined to share specifics on Mr. Mosseri’s plans. London is already Meta’s largest engineering hub outside the U.S., she said, with more than 4,000 employees in the city.
Meta Chief Executive
Mark Zuckerberg
has been working to overhaul almost every aspect of the company’s operations, including by adding more video content, in what analysts say amounts to one of the biggest sets of changes in years for the parent of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. Earlier this year, Meta ramped up its counterattack against TikTok by launching its short-video product Reels for all global Facebook users. Reels first launched on Instagram in 2020 in the U.S.
Meta faces formidable competition from Chinese-owned TikTok, which surpassed one billion monthly active users in September 2021. TikTok’s usage surpassed that of Meta’s Instagram among teenagers in November 2021, according to
Forrester Research Inc.
Mr. Mosseri has been central to Meta’s effort to build Instagram, which made its name as a photo-sharing platform more than a decade ago and has more recently focused on video to become a more formidable competitor to TikTok. His temporary assignment to London was earlier reported by the Financial Times.
The Instagram revamp has run into criticism, though, from some users, including celebrities Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian, who called on the platform to stop introducing features that make it more like TikTok.
Mr. Mosseri responded to the uproar in a video saying that Instagram was shifting toward videos while it attempts to stay committed to creators, to support photos and to put friends’ content at the top of a user’s feed. Meta walked back some of the new Instagram features at the center of the hubbub just hours after Mr. Zuckerberg defended their arrival.
The overseas stint for the senior Meta executive isn’t out of the norm for the company. Unlike other tech companies that have recently been calling employees back to their offices, many members of Meta’s management team, including Mr. Zuckerberg, have scattered to locations far from its Silicon Valley headquarters. Before his recent move to London, Mr. Mosseri had worked remotely from locations including Hawaii, Los Angeles and Cape Cod.
Meta last week posted its first-ever revenue loss for the June-ended quarter and its stock price is down more than 50% this year. In addition to competition from TikTok, Meta is grappling with a declining user base and a slowdown in digital advertising hampered by macroeconomic trends.
During the quarter, Meta saw a 30% increase in the time that users are engaging with Reels, Mr. Zuckerberg said on an earnings call last week. The company said it doesn’t yet make money off Reels at the levels of some of its other features.
Write to Sarah E. Needleman at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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