Instagram is one of the most popular social networks nowadays. From watching videos to watching clips, we just keep scrolling through this platform. But imagine that suddenly some videos with 20 views become blurry or the quality drops to 144p. What’s the reason? Instagram is prioritizing its video/roll content. Now it will provide high quality for the most viewed videos and lower the quality of the least viewed ones.
According to an AMA video posted by Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri, the social media platform will lower the quality of the least popular videos. Here is a detailed overview of how your Instagram will soon change.
Spotlight on videos with the most views
So how does this feature work? The least viewed/least liked videos or clips will be shown in lower quality. On the other hand, the most viewed/most liked videos or clips will be shown in high quality. The algorithm will focus on videos that generate higher engagement metrics such as likes, views, and comments. It will also focus on the speed at which a video gains views, the number of shares, and the overall engagement it receives immediately after posting.
But why this sudden change and how can it benefit you? Well, the new update aims to improve user engagement and retention. Why: By focusing on popular videos, Instagram aims to attract more users and create a more dynamic feed for you.
However, the new update has raised a number of questions among users. Some said they focus on content, not “perfectly popular” videos. So why should they compromise on their experience? In response to this, Mosseri said that the change in video quality is “not a big deal.” In addition, the thread user lindseygamble_ reposted an explanatory video from Mosseri. It is noteworthy that Mosseri posted this video earlier on his account. “In general, we want to show the highest quality videos as much as possible… But if something is not watched for a long time – because the vast majority of views are at the beginning – we will move to a lower quality video,” Mosseri explained in the video.
What lies ahead
This initiative came about due to the growing competition among “content creators”. Over the past few years, content creation has become a serious job for many. While this has helped many to get a “non-standard” career path, it has also increased the competition between all content creators. It was to cope with the competitive environment of social media platforms that this initiative was taken,” says Mosseri.
Looking ahead, the new initiative will also help content creators get rewarded for the hard work they put into their content. Thus, authors who collect more views will gain a larger audience.
