HomeInstagram Head confirms platform reduces video quality for content with low views
Over the weekend, in an ‘Ask me anything’ series, Adam Mosseri admitted that Instagram reduces the video quality for posts that aren’t resulting in views.
Mosseri is the head of the platform and regularly addresses algorithm changes and questions posed to him by creators, businesses, and social media users. It was through his stories that he was asked ‘Do stories lose quality over time? Mine look blurry in highlights?’
It was then that Mosseri replied with a video stating: “In general, we want to show the highest quality video we can when someone is watching a story, or reel, or photo…
“If something isn’t watched for a long time because the vast majority of views are in the beginning, we will move to a lower quality video and if it’s watched again a lot we will re-render the higher quality video…”
Creators question Instagram quality in a Q&A
He reiterated the goal is to show people the highest quality content and followed up with his
">comment in a Threads reply. It was here that he dived into the topic more and provided technical insight.
“It works at an aggregate level, not an individual viewer level. We bias to higher quality (more CPU-intensive encoding and more expensive storage for bigger files) for creators who drive more views. It’s not a binary threshold [threshold], but rather a sliding scale.”
While Instagram has often been described as having a difficult-to-keep-up-with algorithm, with some creators feeling like it’s hard to grow on the platform, commenters in the same Threads discussion agree it makes sense from a technical perspective.
When asked if this makes it harder for smaller creators to compete, Mosseri said while it’s “the right concern,” it doesn’t seem to matter much.
“…as the quality shift isn’t huge and whether [whether] or not people interact with videos is way more based on the content of the video than the quality. Quality seems to be much more important to the original creator, who is more likely to delete the video if it looks poor than to their viewers.”
Featured Image: AI-generated via Ideogram
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Sophie Atkinson is a UK-based journalist and content writer, as well as a founder of a content agency which focuses on storytelling through social media marketing. She kicked off her career with a Print Futures Award which champions young talent working in print, paper and publishing. Heading straight into a regional newsroom, after graduating with a BA (Hons) degree in Journalism, Sophie started by working for Reach PLC. Now, with five years experience in journalism and many more in content marketing, Sophie works as a freelance writer and marketer. Her areas of specialty span a wide range, including technology, business,…
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