Instagram launches its own version of the Golden Globes

For actors, it’s the Golden Globes. Musicians, it’s the Grammys. Now, content creators have their own award to aspire to.

Introducing Instagram Rings. 

As social media’s place in the entertainment ecosystem grows, the new award program from Instagram is meant to honor those creatives “who don’t just participate in culture – but shift it, break through whatever barrier holds them back to realize their ambitions,” according to a blog post about the launch. 

Judged by a panel of creatives spanning fashion and makeup to sports and entertainment, each nominated their own longlist of favorite creators and voted on which 25 of Instagram’s three billion users will be among the first to receive the honor. 

The panel includes Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, filmmaker Spike Lee, designers Marc Jacobs and Grace Wales Bonner, tech influencer Marques Brownlee, and others. 

As well as a physical ring designed by Wales Bonner, the winners also received a unique digital golden ring for their Instagram profile and Stories. 

“When we thought about how to bring this to life, we wanted winners to be celebrated in a way that’s uniquely Instagram,” the blog post explained. “We know the profile is an important space for creators to show who they are and what they’re about – so when winners post a story, an exclusive gold ring will show up around their profile picture, in place of the usual Stories ring.”

The soon-to-be-announced winners will also have a chance to customize their profile backdrop color and show off their creativity with their own twist on the “like” button. 

The photo sharing platform has been busy this year, dropping new features at breakneck speed. Just this year, there’s been the Blend feature launch, followed by the Maps feature, the Schools feature. Instagram is also rolling out the first official iPad app. Most recently came the news that Reels may soon become the new default tab upon opening the app. 

But as the platform leans into Content with a capital C, with the ability to post a simple photo now obfuscated with endless customization options, the app has come a long way from when a grainy snap of your morning coffee was worthy of a main grid post. 

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