Instagram has come under fire after revealing that it lowers the quality of older, less popular videos on its platform, reserving higher quality for more popular content. Adam Mosseri, head of the Meta-owned social media platform, stated that Instagram biases towards higher quality for creators who drive more views.
The revelation has sparked concern among some creators who fear that this move may impact the reach and visibility of their videos. One person expressed their disappointment, stating that it is wrong to adjust the quality of a video based on its performance, and that Instagram’s focus on metrics and engagement has made some users “jaded” with the platform.
Social media consultant Matt Navarra raised concerns about how this decision could hinder new creators from gaining traction and potentially create a cycle where established creators benefit from higher engagement. He also pointed out that videos with higher resolution or visual assets require more computing power to encode and more storage space on servers.
While Instagram previously announced changes to its content recommendation system to give all creators an equal chance of breaking through, some users are still worried about the impact on smaller creators. However, Mr. Mosseri clarified that Instagram does not individually decide to reduce or improve the quality of videos, but rather does so in an aggregate way on a sliding scale.
Despite the backlash, Instagram’s goal remains to show users the highest quality content possible. The platform’s focus on video content has previously faced criticism, with a backlash in 2022 leading to a reversal of plans to shift towards a TikTok-style format. The debate continues on whether Instagram’s quality adjustments are fair to all creators or if they favor more popular content.
