No, Gen Z isn’t to blame for Instagram’s controversial new logo

If you've been online in the last day or so, you've probably noticed Instagram has changed its wordmark. Shock horror. Naturally, the internet isn't best pleased with the move thanks to the 'blandified' typeface replacing the old cursive design. With tensions high, critics needed someone to blame, and who took the fall? Gen Z, of course.

Admittedly, I'm not surprised by the backlash; Instagram has been rocking the cursive wordmark since 2010, becoming an enduring part of its identity as it evolved across the years. Fingers were pointed, accusations were thrown. This is all Gen Z's fault because... they can't read script fonts.

Taking to X, one user claimed, "If you're curious why Instagram changed their wordmark today, it's because schools stopped teaching cursive ~10 years ago so GenZ+ can't read it." Others soon piled on, revelling in the Gen Z mockery, with one person writing, "Gen Z thought it was a weird scribble,” while another lamented, "Can't believe cursive has become a lost art already." Well, good news, it's not.

As a Gen Z, I'm obviously fairly heated about these claims. I was born in 2000 and yes, I can read cursive. I didn't sit through hours of joined-up-handwriting classes in primary school to be accused of being cursive illiterate. Not to mention the new Instagram logo is still a stylised cursive font, just a less legible, slightly unconventional one. The truth is, Instagram didn't change its logo for my generation; it was simply time for a refresh.

There's a temptation to prescribe a greater purpose to Instagram's rebrand as a way to rationalise why many of us don't like it, but the truth couldn't be more simple – the brand was getting stale. While I know I'm feeding into ragebait in writing this article, the reaction to Instagram's new wordmark points to a wider issue – logo backlashes aren't really about design anymore. People are tired of empty redesign, and hungry for rebrands with purpose.