A report from Meta claims that users are spending more time on Instagram since the advent of reels. While when this type of content was incorporated into Instagram there were complaints, the truth is that they have now become an attractive component for users of this social network.
In addition to this data, the report also highlighted that there are more than 3 million people who use at least Instagram, Facebook or Whatsapp. Mark Zuckerberg stated that monthly active users on the three Meta-owned social networks have been increasing. A number of indicators were presented that show a growing momentum of its products and a 3% year-over-year revenue growth.
Following the release of Meta’s product progress information, the company’s shares increased by 12%.
Reels: the secret behind Instagram
Since its incorporation, the use of reels is on the rise not only on Instagram, but also on Facebook. This short video format, inherited from TikTok, is shared more than 2 million times a day between the two platforms. This generated the overall increase in user shares and allowed them to compete head to head with TikTok, the leader in short videos.
According to Zuckerberg, the main reason reels increased user engagement is the use of artificial intelligence. Rating systems and recommendations made by artificial intelligence provide content that appeals to users. Approximately 20% of the content offered in Instagram and Facebook feeds is from people or accounts that the user does not follow. This way of offering content is the one used by TikTok and has been successful on both Instagram and Facebook. According to Zuckerberg, this recommendation system has been the driver of many of the results that were being presented.
Higher engagement on Instagram but not higher revenues
These numbers about increased user participation do not translate into higher revenues for the company. In fact, according to Susan Li, Meta’s CFO, the time users spend on reels ends up affecting the finances of stories and publications. This is because, the time users spend watching reels, they stop interacting with other types of publications. However, Li says that the time users spend on Instagram overall has increased, which is a positive thing for financials.
Regarding the latter, he also stressed that product work will be done to discover the appropriate monetization for the reels. This is a different type of content than what they had been working with on Instagram, so it may take time to find the right type of monetization.
For the time being, reels continue to be more than attractive content for users. In this sense, Instagram is about to incorporate a new tool, highly requested and already implemented in TikTok. This is the possibility of downloading reels directly from Instagram, without resorting to third-party applications. The only condition is that the creators of the reels must authorize in advance if they wish the reels to be downloaded. In this way, the public reels and original audios of those creators who so authorize will be available for download. This is a feature that is currently being tested but is expected to be available to all users shortly.
