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Instagram’s Content Team has Startled the Users
According to Instagram’s content team, sharing Reels that last longer than 90 seconds can reduce your app reach.
This was one of numerous comments released by the Instagram team during a creator event in New York last week, where Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri answered questions about the platform, the algorithm, what they’re working on, and so on.
According to The Information’s Kaya Yurieff, Mosseri and the IG team gave one slide that said that reels longer than 90 seconds can hinder distribution.
Here’s the slide in question:
As you can see from this overview, the majority of the points are quite generic and presumably familiar (create authentic engagement, post at the appropriate times, etc.).
However, there are some intriguing notes:
First, the suggestion above implies that posting at the same time as you do on other platforms can be beneficial. That is likely due to larger branding and generating discussion at the same time.
On the impact side, Instagram states that sharing stuff you did not create, posting content with watermarks from other apps, engagement bait, and low-quality content will reduce your reach.
And posting reels that are longer than 90 seconds.
Which raises the issue: “Why would Instagram even let you post Reels longer than 90 seconds if people don’t want to watch them?”
To be clear, the current maximum posting length for Reels made within the app is 90 seconds, but you can submit longer clips. Instagram has started experimenting with 3- and 10-minute Reels postings.
However, those experiments appear to be failing, as it advises others not to participate.
In any case, it’s an important point to consider while planning your posting strategy.
Mosseri also covered creator monetization and the problems of developing an equitable, sustainable creator program, as well as subscriptions, which he believes are a viable revenue stream but only apply to a small number of producers.
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