Instagram Head Adam Mosseri stated on Friday that Instagram decreases the quality of videos with limited views. Two br tags are inserted for line breaks:
The Chief Executive Officer of the social media platform disclosed this information during an ask-me-anything (AMA) session conducted on Instagram Stories. According to him, this pertains to all video formats on the platform, including Stories, longer videos, and Reels. The decision has been made to prioritize the encoding of videos that are frequently watched by numerous users and receive a substantial amount of traffic.
Instagram has decreased the quality of videos that receive fewer views. In a Threads post, a user shared a video wherein Mosseri addressed a query regarding the deterioration in quality observed in older Stories saved as Highlights compared to the original upload. The head of Instagram stated that the platform is equipped with algorithms that autonomously assess older Stories and Reels with limited views, subsequently diminishing their quality. This is done to allocate computational resources for videos that are being viewed by a considerable number of users.
This would elucidate the reason for the slightly grainy appearance of the Highlights and Reels of lesser-known creators when observed at a later time. Mosseri emphasized that the reduction in quality is implemented following the decline in interest subsequent to the upload of a recent post. This could, theoretically, span from a few days to a few weeks.
Some users expressed apprehension regarding this decision, particularly in terms of its transparency. People have also inquired about the breakdown, particularly focusing on whether a specific number of views is necessary to uphold the video quality.
Mosseri, in response to the Threads post, stated, “It functions at an aggregate level, not at an individual viewer level. ” We prioritize higher quality, including CPU-intensive encoding and more costly storage for larger files, for creators who generate more views.
“It is not a binary threshold, but rather a sliding scale. “
When a user proposed that this action may pose challenges for smaller creators in competing with their larger counterparts, Mosseri elucidated that, according to the analytics, user engagement with videos is primarily driven by content quality rather than video quality. He further asserted that the decrease in video quality is not sufficiently significant to raise concerns among users.
