Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Adam Mosseri Returns (Head of Instagram)

February 25, 2026

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  • Adam Mosseri believes that in the age of easily reproducible content, digital literacy must evolve beyond simply identifying AI-generated material to critically assessing the creator's incentives and motivations. 
  • Instagram's approach to content ranking and user experience attempts to balance easily measurable first-order preferences (immediate engagement) with harder-to-measure second-order preferences (long-term user satisfaction), exemplified by features like the 'Your Algorithm' controls. 
  • The rapid evolution of technology, particularly AI, forces companies like Instagram to constantly reinvent their internal processes while simultaneously struggling to keep pace with societal adaptation and regulation. 
  • The rapid acceleration of technology, particularly AI, presents both superpowers for creativity and significant risks of abuse that platforms like Instagram must proactively manage. 
  • Instagram's user behavior has fundamentally shifted away from the original feed of square photos, with DMs and Stories consuming the majority of user time and media sharing. 
  • Adam Mosseri believes that Instagram's core identity must remain focused on visual creativity, which is why he is hesitant to widely implement links in the main feed, fearing it will shift the platform toward news and politics like Facebook. 
  • The discussion touches on the environmental cost of AI interactions, noting that every 20 to 50 prompts to models like ChatGPT consume the equivalent of half a liter of fresh water. 
  • The conversation explores the ethical conflict of rooting for a controversial figure like Elon Musk to fail versus the utilitarian concern for the tens of thousands of jobs and American industry (like Tesla) that would suffer as a result. 
  • The speakers express admiration for Adam Mosseri, the Head of Instagram, noting his intelligence and willingness to discuss difficult topics during his appearance on *Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard*. 

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Mosseri’s Design Background
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(00:09:34)
  • Key Takeaway: Adam Mosseri identifies as a generalist whose strength lies in range and structured problem-solving, contrasting with his family of artistic specialists.
  • Summary: Mosseri embraces being a generalist, noting he was a middle-of-the-pack designer who succeeded through sheer effort before finding a better fit in product management. Design, for him, fundamentally involves identifying problems, options, and trade-offs applicable across any industry. He learned to divorce self-worth from work critique through observing younger designers who brought proper design school culture to Facebook.
Mosseri’s Role and Meta Structure
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(00:10:43)
  • Key Takeaway: Mosseri leads the Instagram team at Meta and supports the Threads app, explaining that internal language choices reflect Instagram’s integration within the larger company structure.
  • Summary: Mosseri is the Head of Instagram at Meta and also supports Threads. The company uses specific language to reflect that Instagram is part of a larger entity, sharing safety systems and ad infrastructure with Facebook and WhatsApp. This structure is likened to General Motors’ house of brands, where distinct public opinions exist for sub-brands despite shared ownership.
AI in Product Operations
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(00:18:53)
  • Key Takeaway: Instagram utilizes AI for ranking content based on user interest and for classifying content at scale to enforce community guidelines, as humans are better at nuance and technology is better at scale.
  • Summary: AI has long been used for ranking content to show users what they are most interested in. The technology also classifies content to detect violations of community guidelines, a necessary function given the billions of uploads daily. Historically, the platform has relied on technology for scale in less nuanced areas, while humans handle complex interpretation.
First vs. Second-Order Preferences
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(00:28:13)
  • Key Takeaway: Social media platforms often optimize for easily measurable first-order preferences (immediate likes/time spent) rather than second-order preferences (how users feel about their time later).
  • Summary: First-order preferences are easy to measure (e.g., liking chocolate), while second-order preferences involve long-term goals (e.g., wanting to be healthy). The industry tends to optimize for what is easily measurable, leading to potential negative outcomes for users’ narrative selves. Instagram attempts to address this with ‘worth-your-time’ surveys and the ‘Your Algorithm’ controls.
Your Algorithm Feature Deep Dive
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(00:29:30)
  • Key Takeaway: The ‘Your Algorithm’ feature in the Reels tab allows users to manually adjust AI-generated interest categories, enabling them to express second-order preferences and correct misread signals.
  • Summary: Inspired by users writing letters to the algorithm, the feature uses embeddings to map videos and topics in a shared space, allowing users to see and edit what the AI thinks they are interested in. This tool is designed to help users articulate their narrative self by allowing them to explicitly remove topics they do not wish to see, such as content related to a tragic personal event.
AI Detection and Content Provenance
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(00:39:14)
  • Key Takeaway: Detecting AI-generated content is an ongoing arms race, suggesting that industry-wide adoption of content fingerprinting at the point of capture may be a more robust solution than post-hoc detection.
  • Summary: Defining AI-generated content is difficult because most modern phone processing involves some level of AI enhancement, creating a spectrum between captured and purely synthetic content. The practical challenge is that detection models become less effective as generative models improve. An alternative approach involves camera manufacturers embedding unforgeable signatures into captured files to verify authenticity.
Digital Literacy and Intent
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(00:45:33)
  • Key Takeaway: True digital literacy requires moving beyond identifying content as ‘AI or not’ to understanding ‘who created it, what their incentives are, and what they are after.’
  • Summary: Just as in real-life interactions, users must evaluate the intent behind content, considering if a creator is a salesman or genuinely seeking help. Instagram’s role is to surface metadata like account age, location, and content source (e.g., camera signature or AI label) to provide context. This contextual information helps users decide what to trust, rather than relying solely on visual verification.
AI Dangers and Platform Responsibility
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(00:49:05)
  • Key Takeaway: Sophisticated, emotionally manipulative deepfakes, like a fake police confrontation video, pose a significant danger by inciting real-world reactions to non-existent events.
  • Summary: The danger of viral, fabricated content, exemplified by a fake NYC police/ICE video, is that it can compel users to take real-world action based on false premises. Technology is accelerating at an inflection point, forcing platforms like Instagram to balance the exciting potential of AI with the necessity of preventing misuse. The platform’s job involves anticipating misuses, providing context, and reacting quickly when unforeseen negative events occur.
Perks of Instagram Leadership
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(00:51:21)
  • Key Takeaway: Adam Mosseri finds energy in meeting diverse people across various industries, which is a key personal benefit of leading Instagram.
  • Summary: A major energizing perk for Adam Mosseri is the opportunity to meet and learn from amazing people across different industries, including podcasters, fashion figures, and footballers. This exposure allows him to gain insights into how various worlds and creative processes function. This direct interaction is a significant upside of his role.
Long-Form vs. Short-Form Content
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(00:52:04)
  • Key Takeaway: While short clips drive exposure, the core business and deepest connection with the audience remain rooted in long-form audio conversations.
  • Summary: Dax worries that the rise of podcast clips is reverting the medium back to the short-form nature they sought to escape, similar to late-night TV soundbites. Mosseri suggests distinguishing between marketing (clips) and the actual conversation (long-form), noting that the business real estate is still on the long-form content. If the core base listening to the whole show shrinks, that is concerning, but clips can still grow the overall audience.
Audio’s Underappreciated Role
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(00:54:05)
  • Key Takeaway: Audio participation in people’s lives, such as during commutes or workouts, is a unique space that visual-first platforms like Instagram cannot currently occupy.
  • Summary: Dax highlights that audio allows participation in users’ lives during activities like commuting or exercising, which visual apps cannot match. Mosseri notes that most time spent on Instagram is watching video, which is often half audio, yet the audio experience is not prioritized or developed as much as the visual component. Auditory input can carry just as strong an emotional impact as visual input.
Instagram Usage Demographics Shift
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(00:55:13)
  • Key Takeaway: The perception of Instagram as a feed of square photos is outdated; DMs are now the most frequent activity, especially among younger users.
  • Summary: Users in their 40s often still think of Instagram as the original feed of square photos, but current usage patterns show a different reality. People share far more to Stories than to the feed, and teens spend the most time messaging (DMs). Photos and videos sent via DMs now outnumber those posted to Stories or the feed combined.
Managing Platform Change and Outrage
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(00:57:25)
  • Key Takeaway: To avoid irrelevance, platforms must embrace necessary, often controversial, changes, even if it means weathering intense user backlash.
  • Summary: Instagram has experienced significant backlash over major changes, such as shifting from audio to video or moving to Spotify, despite users ultimately liking the changes post-hurdle. Mosseri cites Mark Zuckerberg’s view that companies often fail by hitting their goals instead of making hard decisions to adapt. He prefers leading through controversial changes rather than letting Instagram become irrelevant on his watch.
Upcoming Instagram Video Focus
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(00:59:40)
  • Key Takeaway: Instagram is testing a radical redesign where opening the app defaults to a full-screen, video-centric experience combining Stories and Reels, potentially eliminating the traditional grid feed.
  • Summary: Instagram is testing an update where opening the app leads directly into Stories, which then swipe straight into Reels, effectively removing the grid post as the primary entry point. In this version, the feed would become primarily video, consumed full-screen, one at a time, similar to Reels or YouTube Shorts. The rollout is being managed slowly, starting with opt-in testing in India to gauge user adoption and retention.
Rationale for No Feed Links
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(01:02:11)
  • Key Takeaway: Links are restricted in the feed to preserve Instagram’s identity as a platform for visual creativity, preventing it from becoming saturated with spam, politics, and news publishers.
  • Summary: The restriction on placing links everywhere (unlike Stories) is intended to prevent the platform from feeling significantly different and less desirable. Widespread links would introduce more scams, spam, politics, and news content, which are typically text/link-oriented rather than photo/video-oriented. Mosseri wants Instagram to remain differentiated by focusing on art, fashion, and film creators.
Creator vs. User Distinction
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(01:04:09)
  • Key Takeaway: Instagram distinguishes ‘creators’ as individuals intending to grow a brand or cause, separate from casual users posting personal photos.
  • Summary: Creators are defined as individuals or groups producing original content with an intent to grow, whether for evangelism, sales, or personal branding. Casual users posting vacation photos are not categorized as creators, even if their content is creative. This focus leans into the trend of power shifting from institutions to individuals, making creators increasingly relevant as trusted sources of perspective.
Democratization of Production via AI
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(01:06:32)
  • Key Takeaway: The second wave of the internet, driven by AI, is democratizing content production in the same way the first wave democratized publishing.
  • Summary: The first internet wave allowed anyone to publish because distribution costs neared zero, leading to democratization but also information overload. AI is now drastically lowering the cost of production, making environments and complex content creation accessible to individuals. Instagram’s hope is that its AI tools will empower human creativity rather than simply displace jobs.
Creator Monetization Strategies
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(01:08:36)
  • Key Takeaway: Instagram focuses on facilitating brand deals and fan subscriptions for creators, as direct platform bonus payments for content creation have proven unsustainable and often lower quality.
  • Summary: Unlike YouTube, Instagram does not run pre-roll or mid-roll ads on short videos, making direct platform payouts difficult to justify financially. Tests paying creators directly resulted in incremental content that was not significantly better or higher in quantity to recoup the investment. Therefore, Instagram prioritizes tools like the Creator Marketplace and Ads tools to support brand partnerships, which is a $15 billion industry.
Authenticity Becoming Reproducible
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(01:12:30)
  • Key Takeaway: The aesthetic of ‘perfect’ polished content is becoming cheap due to easy production, causing savvy creators to embrace messy, imperfect content as a new indicator of authenticity.
  • Summary: The once-valued aesthetic of perfect, smoothed photos is losing value because it is now easy to produce, even by AI. Savvy creators are rebelling by using messy, raw, or uncropped content, as imperfections currently signal authenticity and relatability in an information-saturated world. The challenge is that AI is already learning to perfectly recreate this illusion of raw imperfection.
Bridging Technicality and Approachability with AI
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(01:15:37)
  • Key Takeaway: AI creates a tension where highly technical concepts (like foundation models) are made approachable by acting as a tool that allows non-experts to perform technical tasks, such as programming, using natural language.
  • Summary: While AI technology is inherently technical, it makes complex tasks more approachable by bridging the gap between technical skill and natural language instruction. Dax notes he can now code again by directing an AI assistant in English, effectively turning the AI into a junior engineer. This accessibility suggests AI will empower many people to engage with technical fields previously inaccessible to them.
Threads’ Current Status and Strategy
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(01:18:01)
  • Key Takeaway: Threads is focused on fostering open exchange and civil debate, leveraging Instagram integration for awareness while prioritizing organic, direct usage over platform cross-pollination.
  • Summary: Threads was launched to create a space for healthy exchange of ideas, aiming to be more civil than its predecessor, Twitter. The platform has grown to about 300 million users, performing well in the US and Japan. Instagram integration serves as the platform’s ‘clips’ equivalent to raise awareness, but the core business success relies on users going directly to the Threads app.
Iran Internet Control Mechanics
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(01:20:07)
  • Key Takeaway: Governments block internet access by instructing Internet Service Providers to block specific domain addresses, a process circumvented by VPNs or satellite services like Starlink.
  • Summary: When governments shut down parts of the internet, they work with ISPs to block access to specific domain addresses that apps use to communicate with servers. Users can bypass these blocks using VPNs, which reroute traffic, or by using satellite internet services like Starlink, which bypasses local ISP control entirely.
The Little Brother Effect in Sports
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(01:40:33)
  • Key Takeaway: A disproportionate number of elite athletes are younger siblings because competing with older siblings forces them to develop greater skill and tenacity.
  • Summary: Research indicates that younger siblings often become elite athletes due to the ’little brother effect,’ where constant competition with older siblings drives skill development. This forces younger children to develop greater tenacity and physical ability just to keep up. Reggie Miller’s career, driven by competition with his older sister Cheryl Miller, is cited as an example.
Basketball Rivalry Anecdote
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(01:41:15)
  • Key Takeaway: Reggie Miller’s competitive drive was significantly shaped by having to compete against his sister.
  • Summary: The segment references a story about a great female basketball player, possibly Cheryl Miller, being highly competitive. Reggie Miller reportedly took a long time to surpass his sister in skill level. This anecdote highlights the impact of early, intense sibling rivalry on athletic development.
Coca-Cola Brand Portfolio
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(01:41:27)
  • Key Takeaway: The Coca-Cola Company has significantly reduced its brand portfolio to focus on high-potential products, shrinking from over 400 brands to around 200 as of 2025.
  • Summary: The Coca-Cola Company owns, licenses, or markets over 200 brands globally as of 2025, down from over 400 previously. Their portfolio spans water, coffee, tea, juice, and dairy, not just soda. A key difference between Mexican and U.S. Coke is the sweetener: cane sugar in Mexican Coke versus high fructose corn syrup in American Coke.
Creator Economy Valuation
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(01:42:16)
  • Key Takeaway: Off-platform brand deals made by content creators constitute a $15 billion industry, separate from the broader influencer marketing sector valued near $24 billion in 2024.
  • Summary: The value of creators making deals directly off-platform is estimated at $15 billion. The overall influencer marketing sector is projected to grow significantly beyond this figure, reaching roughly $24 billion in 2024. This indicates a massive, expanding economy driven by individual content producers.
AI Water Consumption Facts
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(01:42:37)
  • Key Takeaway: Interacting with AI models like ChatGPT consumes significant amounts of fresh water for cooling, equating to half a liter for every 20 to 50 prompts.
  • Summary: A study revealed that AI models require substantial water resources for cooling operations. Regardless of the prompt’s complexity or urgency, every 20 to 50 inputs consume approximately half a liter of fresh water. This fact raises concerns about the environmental impact of frequent AI usage.
Starlink Satellite Dominance
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(01:43:05)
  • Key Takeaway: Starlink satellites account for about 65% of all active operational satellites in orbit as of early 2026, raising concerns about orbital congestion and collision risk.
  • Summary: Starlink currently operates over 9,400 satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). With Jeff Bezos planning competing satellite launches, the number of objects in orbit is expected to increase dramatically. Collisions at their high speeds (17,500 mph) would result in catastrophic debris events.
Utilitarian View of Musk’s Companies
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(01:44:08)
  • Key Takeaway: Personal animosity toward Elon Musk should be weighed against the utilitarian impact of his companies, such as Tesla employing 50,000 people and contributing significant tax revenue.
  • Summary: It is easy to root for a disliked figure’s failure, but this overlooks the collateral damage to employees and the national economy. A utilitarian perspective requires considering the loss of 50,000 American jobs and the collapse of a major successful company if Tesla were to fail. Even if Tesla falters, Musk’s wealth and power will likely persist through other ventures like SpaceX.
Tesla vs. American Auto Industry
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(01:46:33)
  • Key Takeaway: Despite ideological alignment with other companies, there is an ethical consideration regarding supporting the only American company that successfully established a global foothold in the electric vehicle market.
  • Summary: One speaker prefers the driving experience of non-Tesla electric vehicles, such as those from the American big three. However, they feel ethically compromised by letting hatred for one person override the need to support a thriving American industry employing tens of thousands. Tesla currently holds the global lead in establishing an electric vehicle presence.
Concluding Thoughts on Adam Mosseri
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(01:47:57)
  • Key Takeaway: Adam Mosseri was highly praised for his comprehensive knowledge base and willingness to engage in challenging discussions during his appearance on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard.
  • Summary: The speakers concluded that Adam Mosseri is staggeringly smart, possessing a full comprehension of a massive range of topics. They were impressed by his willingness to put himself forward for interviews covering hard subjects. The interview was considered a success, even noting a flattering personal detail shared by Mosseri.