Instagram has expanded its professional dashboard with a new feature called Competitive Insights, designed to help business and creator accounts compare their activity with similar profiles. The tool allows users to select up to ten other accounts and view side-by-side information such as posting frequency and follower growth across Reels, feed posts, and ads.
The comparison appears straightforward, giving only numerical indicators of how often an account posts and how its follower count changes. While the feature also reveals engagement data from individual posts, even when like counts are hidden, it stops short of providing deeper breakdowns such as click-through rates, overall engagement graphs, or group comparisons. Users can only view one-to-one data contrasts, which limits broader performance analysis.
For marketers, the new view could offer a quick sense of how active competitors are and whether their own posting rhythm aligns with audience growth patterns. Yet some social media professionals have pointed out that follower counts alone rarely reflect campaign effectiveness. In an environment where discovery is increasingly shaped by algorithms rather than user follows, reach, shares, and clicks tend to matter more than raw growth numbers.
The update may serve as a helpful reference point for agencies or brands tracking their industry peers, but its practical value for creators appears mixed. Some have reacted cautiously, suggesting that such comparisons might encourage unhealthy competition or unnecessary pressure among individuals who already face constant performance tracking. "This is totally against the mental health care", noted one user under Sarah.roizman's post. Rickwulfk95 claims, "Another useless feature, instead changing back the algorithm to allow higher reach to the target, they try to start a war between poors, let's abandon IG for Reddit and Discord, where creators stick together instead of competing". Others have questioned the ethics of making aspects of post-level performance visible to outsiders, arguing that it introduces unwanted transparency into data that many consider private.
Instagram has not detailed whether further metrics will be added, though the current design suggests it could evolve toward broader benchmarking tools. For now, the feature remains basic and informative rather than strategic. It shows how much one posts and how followers respond, but it leaves out the indicators that tie content directly to audience action.
As social media measurement shifts toward engagement and conversion rather than follower tallies, the new dashboard option may feel like a step backward in understanding what drives meaningful results. For creators, it might prompt more anxiety than insight; for businesses, it may offer context but not clarity.
Notes: This post was edited/created using GenAI tools.
Read next:
• How Entrepreneurs and Creators are Shaping Their Own Brands Without Design Degrees
• Router Neglect: How a Simple Setting Puts Millions at Risk
The comparison appears straightforward, giving only numerical indicators of how often an account posts and how its follower count changes. While the feature also reveals engagement data from individual posts, even when like counts are hidden, it stops short of providing deeper breakdowns such as click-through rates, overall engagement graphs, or group comparisons. Users can only view one-to-one data contrasts, which limits broader performance analysis.
For marketers, the new view could offer a quick sense of how active competitors are and whether their own posting rhythm aligns with audience growth patterns. Yet some social media professionals have pointed out that follower counts alone rarely reflect campaign effectiveness. In an environment where discovery is increasingly shaped by algorithms rather than user follows, reach, shares, and clicks tend to matter more than raw growth numbers.
The update may serve as a helpful reference point for agencies or brands tracking their industry peers, but its practical value for creators appears mixed. Some have reacted cautiously, suggesting that such comparisons might encourage unhealthy competition or unnecessary pressure among individuals who already face constant performance tracking. "This is totally against the mental health care", noted one user under Sarah.roizman's post. Rickwulfk95 claims, "Another useless feature, instead changing back the algorithm to allow higher reach to the target, they try to start a war between poors, let's abandon IG for Reddit and Discord, where creators stick together instead of competing". Others have questioned the ethics of making aspects of post-level performance visible to outsiders, arguing that it introduces unwanted transparency into data that many consider private.
Instagram has not detailed whether further metrics will be added, though the current design suggests it could evolve toward broader benchmarking tools. For now, the feature remains basic and informative rather than strategic. It shows how much one posts and how followers respond, but it leaves out the indicators that tie content directly to audience action.
As social media measurement shifts toward engagement and conversion rather than follower tallies, the new dashboard option may feel like a step backward in understanding what drives meaningful results. For creators, it might prompt more anxiety than insight; for businesses, it may offer context but not clarity.
Notes: This post was edited/created using GenAI tools.
Read next:
• How Entrepreneurs and Creators are Shaping Their Own Brands Without Design Degrees
• Router Neglect: How a Simple Setting Puts Millions at Risk
