What’s Going On With This Instagram Promotion?

The Ring is simply a awesome scary movie that still gives maine nan chills. I tin easy callback nan movie’s iconic poster, which features a achromatic ringing connected a achromatic inheritance and a creepy title font — I didn’t spot nan movie until years aft it first released, but moreover nan thought of it frightened me. So I’m very confused arsenic to why Instagram picked a akin vibe for nan debut of Instagram Rings, a caller “award” that’s intended to observe creators and creativity.

Instagram has assembled a sheet of judges, which includes Spike Lee, Marc Jacobs, Marques Brownlee, and, uh, Instagram caput Adam Mosseri, to “nominate their favourite creators and ballot for who they deliberation deserves a spot connected nan last list.” The creators that triumph get a real, beingness ring, and connected their Instagram profile, they’ll get a typical aureate ringing that appears astir their floor plan picture, will beryllium capable to customize their floor plan backdrop color, and tin “put their ain twist” connected nan for illustration button, according to Meta. The first winners will beryllium announced “soon.” (A promotional video includes an October 16th day without context, truthful I’m presuming that’s erstwhile they’ll beryllium revealed).

But location are still a batch of questions astir nan awards themselves. What is nan criteria for nan award? How galore group will beryllium honored? Is this a one-time thing, aliases thing Instagram plans to do connected a regular basis? How agelong will creators support nan perks connected their profiles? Meta says nan grant celebrates “those who aren’t acrophobic to return imaginative chances and do it their way.” What does that moreover mean? It’s weird that Meta isn’t pronunciation immoderate of this out.

And nan promotional creation for Instagram Rings is possibly nan strangest portion of all, because it seems to beryllium very inspired by The Ring for a logic that I can’t fig retired isolated from for nan truth that they some impact rings. Like this banner artwork:

And this image of nan judges:

And this charismatic video astir Rings:

Introducing Rings: an grant from Instagram that’s each astir celebrating those who aren’t acrophobic to return imaginative chances and do it their way. pic.twitter.com/fnRgq0j51i

— Instagram (@instagram) October 6, 2025

Look, I cognize I mightiness beryllium caring astir these similarities excessively much. But The Ring has a measurement of sticking pinch you that makes this Instagram run guidelines retired for reasons that it astir apt shouldn’t.