Instagram Rings Will Award the Top Creators on the Platform

Instagram has introduced a new award program called Rings, designed to recognize creators who are taking creative risks on the platform. The initiative will honor 25 creators with both a physical gold ring and a digital version displayed as a golden circle around their profile photos and stories.

Recipients will also gain access to exclusive profile customization options, including the ability to change their background color and modify the “Like” button.

“Rings isn’t about honoring a specific type of content — it honors a spirit,” Instagram says in its announcement. “One theme we hear from creators all over the world is the excitement and nervousness that come with making something and putting it out into the world. It takes courage to chase an idea, quiet that inner critic, and create anyway. This award is for the creators who don’t just participate in culture — but shift it, break through whatever barrier holds them back to realize their ambitions. Because every act of creativity, big or small, can lead to something great.”

The Rings program will feature a judging panel that includes Instagram head Adam Mosseri, filmmaker Spike Lee, fashion designers Marc Jacobs and Grace Wales Bonner, YouTuber Marques Brownlee, actress Yara Shahidi, makeup artist Pat McGrath, artist KAWS, pastry chef Cedric Grolet, rugby player Ilona Maher, musician Tainy, photographer Murad Osmann, and Instagram’s head of fashion partnerships Eva Chen.

PetaPixel readers may remember Russian photographer Osmann whose memorable photos showing his girlfriend leading him around the world were a big thing in the early 2010s.

Eva Chen says the idea behind Rings was to formally recognize creators who are shaping conversations and encouraging others to express themselves.

“We felt that it was time to have an award that recognizes people who take these creative chances on our platform,” Chen tells The Hollywood Reporter. “These people are cultural catalysts, and they’re sparking conversations, and by doing that, they encourage people to express themselves as well.”

The judging process involved narrowing down a massive pool of candidates. “Instagram is a community of three billion people, and those three billion people probably reflect a billion different interests, so the criteria was really tough,” Chen continues. “I’m saying this as a judge, seeing the huge list of nominees, and being able to cull it down just to 25, it was a challenge, and I know that, like the other judges, it was too many great people to choose from. But really, we were looking for people who take creative chances and who are always pushing the envelope and thinking about new ways to talk to their audience.”

The Rings distinction will also mark the first time Instagram has allowed users to personalize their profiles in such a way. “We’re doing something that we haven’t really ever done before, which is give these winners the ability to personalize their profile page,” Chen adds.

Tech creator and judge Marques Brownlee says he focused on effort and originality when selecting nominees. “I have a pretty good eye for what I call like ‘high effort content,’” he tells Mashable. “Like when I watch something, and I think to myself, ‘that seemed like it was really hard to make,’ that makes me really happy.”

Brownlee tells CNBC that the award is meant to provide “a special visibility and sort of incentive for people to work towards a really cool elevated recognition,” rather than financial compensation.

“This could be looked at as an incentive to make more Instagram stuff, or really just an incentive to make the best possible thing you can and hopefully get recognized for it,” he adds. “No matter where you’re doing it, it feels good to know that it resonates with people, this is inspiring people, or this is impressing people.”

The Rings announcement comes after Meta ended its Reels Play bonus program in 2023, which had been a significant source of income for many creators on Instagram and Facebook. Some users publicly expressed frustration over the loss of those payments.

The Rings program appears to be a symbolic recognition of creativity rather than a financial reward. Chen says the company hopes Rings will evolve into a lasting tradition.

“It took a long time for this program to come together, it’s the culmination of years of wanting to do something like it and being able to execute it, both product-wise and getting this panel of luminaries together to be judges,” she says.

“They will have to get through this first one first, it’s been a very long time in the making, but we’d love to continue to recognize and celebrate the artists and voices on Instagram.”

The Verge amusingly compared the branding for the new scheme to the horror film The Ring.