is there really a need to force everybody to the same level? I don’t think that it is a competition, people just share their moments. why equalize everybody’s photos to same crappy quality?
Because the types of moments or compositions that Instagram chooses to focus on are low resolution. 50mp is great for a large print, and Hasselblad sharpness, and 10 lights. But Instagram chooses to offer noise and color filter to everyone with a smartphone, so they can make their salad or dog look cool. I have lots of lenses and I love instagram, because I don't have to worry about pixel peepers and get genuine feedback.
But in a way that's clever; I think reflects their intention to capture spontaneous moments, regardless of technical merit. You can't zoom-in to be wowed by 50MP of detail and thus it puts everyone on the same level, regardless of tools, and focuses them on composition and timing.