Instagram expects to highlight some of the best up-and-coming stars in the app as part of parent company Meta's continuing effort to build closer ties with the creator community, which ideally will lead more of them to upload more authentic content to its apps.

Instagram's latest effort along this direction is the "Creators of Tomorrow" list, a display of best-in-class creators in several categories.
Per Instagram :

"The Creators of Tomorrow have been chosen for bringing joy, being voices of a movement, using tech innovatively and being culture makers. Most importantly, they raise the game on Instagram by building community, inspiring creativity and being their authentic selves."

The 20 selected participants in the Creators of Tomorrow program fall into four categories:
IG Besties - "Creators who bring joy" and happiness, much like besties IRL.
Raising the Bar – Aspirational creators who inspire their followers to achieve
Unfiltered Creativity – Experts in creative on IG, who are making innovative use of Instagram-specific tools
On the Map – "Culture makers" who are starting trends and establishing themselves with their own unique twist on things
There are five representatives in each category, providing an interesting overview of who exactly Instagram is looking to recognize as top platform talent.

Even more interesting is that these are clearly the kinds of creators and the kind of content that Instagram wants to see more of in the app.

For "Unfiltered Creativity", makes total sense as innovative usage of an Instagram tool shall keep engaging users. However, those in other categories can provide some worthwhile pointers into what Instagram wants to reflect within its content, which can help you improve your performance if you can adapt and then adapt the same.

As for this Instagram, it says these creators will be solicited for feedback on the tools and future developments as the company continues to get the creator experience right while also being invited to an IRL meet up in NYC later this month.
Also, the platform will start releasing its regional creator listings for selected markets over the next two weeks.

As mentioned, Meta is extremely keen on building stronger bonds with creators in order to maximize user engagement and potentially improve the metaverse, which will largely rely on creative talent in helping create better entertaining VR and AR experiences.

Which, again, is an area that Meta hasn't traditionally fared well. Sure, it can build the platforms to facilitate creative trends and connect with broader audiences. But I would argue that Snapchat has done far better with the leader of the new movements through its creative tools and options that run more directly in line with its community. Seriously, though, this is just the reason Snapchat is still alive, because it's done such a great sense of what its users want and will engage with in the app.

Meta's approach is much more binary and, overall, has not done well at introducing innovative new features.

For example, the latest AI chatbots feature enabling you to interact with bots based on various celebrities.

No one's going to use these.
I mean, not nobody, some people obviously will. But I don't see them really becoming a huge hit, as the appeal of interacting with a robot masquerading as Kendall Jenner just isn't that intriguing, even for huge fans.

I can give you a heap more examples, from early VR experiments through apps like Lifestage and Slingshot to original programs on Facebook Watch to Soundbites, Zuck's Jarvis personal assistant, Portal. All these are projects that Meta's internal team believed would be super cool and would see significant consumer demand.

They didn't. Because they weren't.

One weak point in that regard is that it hasn't got the creative nous to match the scale of the firm, which is why Meta would maximize input from external creative talent.

Meta is well aware of that, and it's laying groundwork today to facilitate expanded creator collaboration down the road.

Another spoke in this wheel is its project, Creators of Tomorrow.