Instagram’s New Emphasis On Algorithm-Fed Videos, Which Has Irked Longtime Users, Gets Plug From Parent Company Meta’s Execs: “In The Long Run, We Believe It Will Be A Tailwind”

28.07.2022 - 02:33 / deadline.com

Don’t expect “old Instagram” to return anytime soon.

During Meta Platforms’ second-quarter earnings call with Wall Street analysts, CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other execs emphasized the potential for video to unlock significant revenue-generating opportunities. They also said it’s a good thing that algorithms are recommending more content in users’ feeds, even though a vocal subset of Instagram users has been loudly complaining about the changes in recent days. The quarter was a rough one for Meta, which missed analysts’ forecasts and reported its first-ever year-to-year revenue decline.

A little more than 15% of a typical Instagram user’s feed is recommended by artificial intelligence from people, groups or accounts than the user does not follow, Zuckerberg estimates, much of it video. The company expects that number to “more than double” by the end of 2023. “As our AI finds content that people will find interesting,” the exec said, “that increases engagement and the quality of our feeds.”

Engagement with Reels, a short-form video outlet added to both Facebook and Instagram in response to the rise of TikTok, is has risen more than 30% across both platforms in the past quarter. CFO David David Wehner conceded that some of that increased engagement is “cannibalistic” from other parts of the platform like Feed and Stories due to the strategy to promote Reels broadly to all users, though he maintained that viewing of Reels videos is “incremental and beneficial to time spent.”

Instagram has experienced a user backlash since phasing in changes to its feed and user experience. Regulars now see fewer photos and posts from those they follow and instead are fed more video and more algorithmically selected posts as recommendations.