In the world of Instagram, the quality of the video you post might just hinge on its popularity. Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, recently shed some light on how the social media giant handles video quality. According to Mosseri, popular videos are often displayed in higher quality, while those that don’t capture viewers’ attention for long may see a dip in quality.
In a candid video discussion, Mosseri explained Instagram’s efforts to deliver the “highest-quality video” possible. However, as viewership declines over time, videos may be shown at reduced quality since, as he pointed out, most views occur shortly after posting.
This isn’t entirely new territory. Last year, Meta discussed using varying encoding strategies based on a video’s popularity. But Mosseri’s recent comments revived interest and sparked debate on Threads, where users expressed concerns and even labeled the practice as “truly insane.”
In response to the outcry, Mosseri clarified that these quality decisions are collective rather than individual. This means your personal engagement doesn’t directly impact the video quality you experience. He explained that Instagram’s algorithm favors higher quality settings for creators who consistently garner more views, applying a gradual quality scale rather than an all-or-nothing approach.
This revelation led to criticism that it could favor established influencers over newcomers. Popular creators could benefit from consistently high-quality videos, reinforcing their reach, while smaller creators struggle to gain visibility.
Mosseri acknowledged these concerns as valid but argued that, in reality, the quality shift’s impact is minimal. He asserted that viewer engagement hinges more on the video’s content than its quality, with the latter being more crucial to creators than to audiences. It seems that for Instagram, content remains king, but quality plays a key supporting role behind the scenes.
