Instagram’s latest guide for creators makes one thing clear: the platform wants people to no longer put recycled TikToks on Reels. Today, Instagram says it’s making changes to its algorithm and how it recommends Rules for users. Along with that, it releases new best practices on its @creators account to give Instagram users tips on how to create content that is likely to be seen and promoted.
The team now recommends that Reels users post vertical videos using music found in Instagram’s library or sounds they find on Reels. They also suggest starting a trend that others can participate in, such as dance galls, as well as ‘entertaining’ and ‘fun’ content. Rules that are mostly covered by text, are vague, have a watermark or logo or have a border around them, will not be recommended as often.
“We are building on what we learned from Explore to recommend fun and entertaining videos in places like the Reels tab, and to personalize the experience,” spokeswoman Devi Narasimhan said in an email to The edge. “We’re getting better at using rankings that help us predict whether people will find a role entertaining and whether we should recommend it.”
Narasimhan says Instagram user surveys have shown that people have a ‘less satisfying’ Flushing experience when content from other apps is retrieved or vague, and so it will start to emphasize the content in its recommendation software. This makes it less likely to be discovered by people who do not follow the person who posted it.
It is no surprise that these recommendations come six months after Reels was introduced in the US. The platform may have been good with people initially transferring their TikToks to Instagram, but because it seems to be becoming a popular destination on its own, Instagram should make sure that Reels is not just an ad for TikTok, or worse, a place where people dump only the content they have already made. However, this could mean more work for creators, who may have to shift their efforts to Reels, rather than focusing on one platform and then distributing the content everywhere.