Instagram Changes Algorithms: Focus on Virality and Reels Length

Emphasis on Shareability

Head of social networks, Instagram, Adam Mosseri, himself emphasized the importance of shareable content. Given the significant increase in user engagement through direct messages, Instagram has decided to prioritize content that will spread through messages.

Mosseri advises creators to naturally integrate shareability into their content. This shift is highlighted by the new “sent” view count that Instagram is introducing more widely after a year of testing.

“Don’t force it as a creator, but if you can, think about creating content that people would want to send to a friend, someone they care about, when you’re creating content, and that will help you increase reach over time.”

To create content that encourages sharing, it’s essential to understand the triggers behind user behavior. And those are emotions.

How to use new elements in your strategy:

• Inspire and entertain: Focus on creating inspirational, interesting, and funny content. Positive content that evokes admiration and happiness is more likely to be shared.
• Emotional connection: Incorporate elements of surprise to increase the positive emotional impact of your content and increase the likelihood of it being shared.
• Common goal: Meta wants to promote positive user experiences. Aligning your content with these goals can help increase engagement.

Distribution of Longer Reels

Instagram, social network, has also clarified its stance on the distribution of longer Reels. Despite initial ambiguities, the platform confirmed that while users can post Reels longer than 90 seconds, longer clips will not be recommended in Explore or Reels sections.

On one hand, Instagram simplifies the uploading process, but significantly affects the potential reach. The platform defends itself with survey results showing that users prefer shorter clips in these recommendation spaces. Longer content simply tends to reduce overall engagement.