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Instagram has a new boss: Adam Mosseri, Instagram's current vice president of products and a former high-end product manager at Facebook, takes over from Instagram as planned.
The news, announced today, arrives a week after Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger unexpectedly revealed that they were resigning from Facebook six years after selling their company to Mark Zuckerberg.
Systrom and Krieger were fed up with Zuckerberg's increased control over the company's product and worried about integrations with his parent company, sources said. You would not be able to read Instagram's blog post, which included a photo of Systrom, Krieger and Mosseri, smiling at the camera while sitting on the couch.
"Since we announced our departure, many people have asked us what we hoped for the future of Instagram," Systrom and Krieger said on the Instagram blog. "For us, the most important thing is to keep our community – all of you – at the heart of everything Instagram does. We believe that Adam will stay true to these values and that Instagram will continue to flourish.
Mosseri was Systrom's most likely successor, not only because he had the experience of the product, but also because he is close to Zuckerberg, who seems to be strengthening control of all of Facebook's stand-alone applications, including Instagram. . Facebook is increasingly supporting Instagram for the growth and influence of younger Internet users. Zuckerberg needs this transition to succeed, so it makes sense for him to give in to a trusted assistant.
Mosseri was a designer, just like Systrom, and studied information design at New York University. He was also a design consultant before joining Facebook's design team in 2008. During his decade, most on Facebook, Mosseri has been involved in some of Facebook's most important products.
Mosseri has been spreading Facebook's news feed for years – arguably the most important product on Facebook – before joining Instagram as vice president of the product early in the year. Less particularly, he also led Facebook Home, the company's unsuccessful attempt to create a mobile home screen for Android phones in 2013.
Probably as important as his product experience, Mosseri is very close to Zuckerberg and Facebook product manager, unnamed Zuckerberg, Chris Cox. Mosseri reported to Cox for years before moving to the Instagram team in May as part of a massive reorganization of the company. When Mosseri went on Instagram, Cox was also promoted to oversee all Facebook apps, including Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. In his new role, Mosseri will be back at Cox.
This familiarity is important, especially given Zuckerberg's willingness to manage Instagram more as a product division within Facebook and less as an independent business. According to this standard, the appointment of Mosseri makes sense. It will probably not have the type of product that the founders own, but Mosseri is a powerful executor and knows how to create News Feed, the product that generates most of Facebook's advertising revenue. This means that he will probably know how to create the Instagram feed.
Those who have worked with Mosseri say they are very caring and appreciated. He is also more visible than most of Facebook's executives, who tend to remain unobtrusive. Mosseri has been one of the few Facebook executives to regularly communicate with reporters on Twitter in the last two years, even though it has calmed down considerably in the past two months.
Mosseri's big challenge now is to maintain Instagram's momentum. Instagram is considered an integral part of Facebook's future. Not only does it have a billion users, including many younger users who might not care about Facebook's main blue app, but unlike other popular apps such as Messenger and WhatsApp, Instagram generates money.
If you are a Facebook or Facebook investor, the problem lies in the fact that Mosseri or Zuckerberg, or a combination of both, will spoil what has been one of the best corporate acquisitions of all time. Hopefully he will have the nuanced touch to keep the stylish and friendly people of Instagram – not just another version of Facebook's news feed.
Here is an interview at Recode the media in February with Mosseri and Facebook's partner, Campbell Brown.
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