The End of Instagram Filters

Originally launched back in 2017, Spark, Meta's online collection of third party augmented reality tools, allows creators to build their own AR effects that can then be used across Meta’s apps such as Facebook and Instagram.

After purchasing Instagram back in April 2012, Meta set about making it the go-to social media app. Spark AR was a key part of their plan to attract the younger audience of rival platforms like Snap Inc. looking for more creative content tools and experiences.

Third party Instagram filters, created through the Spark AR platform, took the social media world by storm, generating unprecedented engagement for the app. In June 2018 Instagram hit a record 1 billion users worldwide (and 2 billion by October 2022), and in 2020 Meta reported that Spark had become the largest platform for mobile AR in the world, with more than 400,000 creators from 190 countries, publishing over 1.2 million AR experiences for Facebook and Instagram, with billions of views.

At Lighthouse Studio, between 2019 and 2021 we developed over 30 Spark AR effects with in excess of 10 million impressions, and whilst creatively it’s no longer a focus within our company, we know the value that AR filters have carried as a marketing tool in the past.

Not only did Spark AR capture the ingenuity and imaginations of creators, from designers and artists to animators and developers, it also became a source of employment for creatives specialising in the platform, with Instagram filters in particular providing an extremely valuable marketing tool for brands. Each creative that used Meta Spark played an integral role in shaping and defining the platform.

It’s understandable that the imminent closure of Spark and the removal of all third party AR effects from its platforms has caused heartbreak and shock within its creative community, with many wondering why they would shut down completely; but is it really a surprise?

Despite the dominance of AR effects on social media between 2018 and 2021, over the last 3 years their value has started to wane, especially with the rise of immersive experiences. So why have AR filters, and by extension Meta Spark, become obsolete?

AI Third Party Software

One of the big appeals of AR Instagram filters is their ability to airbrush a user’s appearance in both photos and videos. With such a huge range of filters to choose from, users were able to alter their images in a multitude of ways, from obvious edits to more subtle ones.

With the growth of AI and third party editing software, it’s now possible to control every aspect of editing images outside of Meta’s apps (Meta now requires users to label when they have used AI in a post). In comparison, AR filters offer less control over image editing and create a less convincing final product. In a world now obsessed with editing their physical appearance for online content, AI has officially taken over from AR as the go to tech.

Content Consumption Trends

Over the last few years, the value viewers gain from content on platforms like Instagram has become more and more important. Users expect more than just pretty images from brands and influencers, they want content that adds something to their life, whether it’s lifestyle inspiration, comedy, politics or niche interests. This has directly correlated with the rise of third party editing apps, providing influencers and creators with the tools to produce increasingly high quality content specific to their target audience.

With AR effects becoming less and less popular, they no longer provide a viable return, so it stands to reason that Meta no longer wants to invest their money and resources in running Spark AR. The platform itself requires human approval for every single effect created, which often takes up to 3 days. It requires monitoring, updating and general upkeep throughout the working week, a big investment for a product that is rapidly losing its value.

The #NoFilter Movement

With filters and image editing becoming the norm in online content, a counter movement was inevitable, with users tired of seeing airbrushed versions of people online and the unrealistic standards that came with it. The impact of social media apps like Instagram (and especially the use of filters) on the mental health of users has became more and more apparent; the most affected group being young people between the ages of 14-24. In response, the hashtag #NoFilter has become increasingly popular, with over 286 million posts on Instagram and 4 billion views on TikTok, encouraging people to embrace the unfiltered version of themselves. This shift in perspective led to a wave of users starting to ditch the filters and a drop in engagement for Spark AR effects.

So what’s next for AR effects in the social media world?

Despite removing all the third party AR effects from their apps, Meta has stated that they will continue to offer AR effects that were created in-house after shutting down Meta Spark. It remains to be seen what they will do with these in-house effects; will they keep them as they are or reconfigure and expand them? And if they aren’t investing in third party AR anymore, where is that investment going and what, if anything, will they offer to the creative community cultivated by Spark AR over the last 8 years?

There is nothing concrete from Meta yet, however there are definitely new creative spaces opening up in the world of XR and the Meta Quest VR headsets. Despite Meta’s Reality Labs division making a loss of nearly 4 billion in 2023, Meta is continuing to invest billions in XR technology, seeing a nearly 30% increase in revenue in Q1 at the start of 2024. When announcing their decision to shut down Spark AR, the company noted that it’s 'shifting resources to the next generation of experiences, across new form factors like glasses'.

And whilst CEO Mark Zuckerberg has warned shareholders that they likely won’t start to see a return on their investment until 2030, It’s clear he still believes that XR is the way to go, spending billions of dollars each quarter to bring the Metaverse, his vision of a virtual world, to life.

The Metaverse and VR Worlds

Since 2021, developers have been able to use Meta Spark Player to test their Spark AR effects and experiences in the Quest headsets, but despite announcing plans back in June to use Spark for creating Augments features within the Quest 3, Meta have since backtracked; delaying the Augments feature and removing Spark from the plans due to the ‘technical architecture’ not being good enough. The suggestion was that they preferred to build a mixed reality platform free from any ties to 2D experiences and smartphones, designed specifically for VR headsets and smart glasses.

Despite Spark, as it exists currently, no longer being integrated into the Quest software, there will still be a need for third party creatives within VR spaces. As VR headsets like Meta Quest become more accessible financially and physically, the virtual spaces within them will grow exponentially; so perhaps this is where the Spark AR community will find its new creative home?

Every user of the Metaverse can create their Meta Avatar, something Meta describes to users as a ‘one-of-a-kind representation of themselves – or whoever they want to be’. And whilst Avatars are not new to Meta’s apps, the possibilities for creative expansion within VR worlds like Meta Horizon, Meta’s social platform optimised for the Metaverse, are exponential.

It’s not just avatars that provide opportunities for third party creatives, the VR spaces themselves are ripe for design, with platforms such as VRChat Inc. already sourcing third party creatives to build spaces available for users worldwide. VR spaces in general are becoming more popular and widespread; during the pandemic there was a huge surge in VR world gatherings and parties, with festivals like Wireless, Venice and SXSW hosting their XR events in virtual reality.

Whilst it’s still unknown what Meta has planned for its VR effects and the Spark community, it seems highly probable that creative spaces will open up for VR effects and more within headsets and wearables like smart glasses. It might not be an immediate shift as some had hoped after the use of Spark AR testing via the Meta Spark Player, leaving some Spark creatives in the dark; but hopefully in the next 5 years a new means of expression will have emerged in the XR world that gives at least some of the community a new space to create.