Reels

Instagram’s Reels guide gives examples ranging from a 10-second clip with a trending song to a 90-second mini-vlog1. A creator’s published reels have their own dedicated tab on the creator’s profile1. Stories are a different sharing format whose posts disappear after 24 hours1.

Instagram for TV began as a US test on Amazon Fire TV devices in December 2025, with reels grouped into interest-based channels such as music, sports and travel789. Once viewers select a reel, subsequent videos play automatically with full sound, without requiring scrolling78. In June 2026, Instagram announced further shared-viewing tests and said casting reels from a phone, including saved videos, was available on Google TV and Fire TV6. Instagram described the television experience as evolving through testing68.

For the sequence of reels shown while watching, Meta’s Transparency Center lists viewing details such as watching for at least three seconds, skipping within two seconds, dismissing a reel and watching with sound19. It also lists likes, saved videos, past comments, profile visits and selecting “Use audio” after opening an audio link19. Instagram for Creators includes shares and retention, meaning how long viewers keep watching, among the information used to predict interest2. These inputs include both reactions to a particular reel and a viewer’s history with videos and their creators19.

Instagram’s audience matching looks at what people with similar interests engage with to help identify reels a viewer might appreciate2. For Explore specifically, Meta’s Transparency Center lists time spent viewing an author’s posts, visits to that author’s profile and clicks to open videos full screen18. Its Explore description also includes the number of people who watched more than 95% of a video and a viewer’s recent “Not interested” responses18.

Your Algorithm began as a small US test in October 2025, launched in the US in December and expanded to English speakers globally in January 2026202122. Instagram’s December instructions said to open the two-lines-with-hearts icon at the upper right while watching Reels, review the interests Instagram has inferred and type topics to see more or less of3. In February, Mosseri described the control as Reels-only; in April 2026, he said it was accessible from both the Reels and search tabs, where viewers could correct interests, add missing topics or request no content about a topic2425. His April explanation said it did not yet cover the home feed, while Instagram’s undated Help Center describes regional differences and warns that the feature may not be available to everyone2324.

Mosseri introduced Blend in April 2025 as a shared Reels recommendation feed that combines suggestions for friends: to start one, open a direct-message conversation and select the Blend icon, with every participant required to opt in26. Instagram announced the Friends tab’s global rollout in August 2025, bringing together public content friends had interacted with and recommendations from Blends a viewer had started4. To open it, tap “Friends” at the top of Reels; tap “Reels” to return to the usual recommendations4. Instagram also announced controls for hiding one’s own reel likes and comments and muting particular followed people’s “activity bubbles,” the indicators showing friends’ activity in this experience4.

Mosseri recommends video when it naturally fits the work, such as comedy or musical performance, and says photographers need not force photographs into videos; in May 2026, he also distinguished Reels storytelling from the easier everyday sharing offered by Stories2728. He recommends a recognizable theme and continued experimentation, while Instagram for Creators’ Erling Haaland example emphasizes personality and finding shorter clips within existing longer videos2930. For openings, Mosseri suggests experimenting with text that sets expectations for what viewers are about to see, and he recommends trial reels for testing a video with non-followers before deciding whether to share it with followers and add it to the profile530. Templates let creators reuse elements of another reel with their own photos and videos, Edits supports ideas, recording, editing and performance information, and Best Practices—accessible in the professional dashboard—provides education on creation, engagement and reach313233.

For Reels discovery, Mosseri has said creators can gain more recommendation reach over time by publishing their own work rather than collecting other people’s content34. He also recommends captions that explain the video and a small number of relevant hashtags to help Instagram understand its subject34. In September 2026, he distinguished developing a successful idea into more content from uploading the identical reel again, which would not be seen as original content35.

Reels watch-time information can help identify moments when viewers lose interest: a creator quoted by Meta’s Newsroom described shortening product-holding scenes after noticing people stopped watching them36. Meta’s Newsroom also announced notifications showing new followers gained from reels, connecting video performance to audience growth36. Instagram for Creators’ Jackson Olson case study describes substantial views and follower gains after he began experimenting with reels and increased posting to four or five a week37.

In May 2026, Mosseri attributed differing reach for identical reels to randomness, competition from other posts and the context in which a video appears38. In June, he advised against deleting and reposting a weak performer because the same content may perform similarly and followers who already saw it may be less likely to interact39. He explicitly said this was not a penalty for deleting and reposting, and noted that a slow-starting post might gain attention later39. In March 2026, he also said scheduling a reel does not reduce its distribution, meaning how widely Instagram shows it40.

Meta’s research described a 2021 Reels application of self-supervised learning, an approach that did not require people to label every training example41. Meta’s research explained how learning from sound and images could recognize recurring themes, such as the same music and dance moves performed by different people, even when videos looked different41. In that application, Meta’s research described suggesting videos related to recently watched reels while filtering out near-duplicates41.

Meta’s September 2026 research paper evaluated an approach that chooses and assesses a sequence of videos together instead of scoring every video independently42. Meta’s research tested the approach in Instagram Reels and Facebook Video and reported increased time spent in the evaluated settings42.