Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri explains why some content on the platform is being suppressed.
In response to a user who inquired if the quality of their Stories was being compressed over time since it appeared blurry in Instagram’s highlight feature, Mosseri reveals there is truth to that statement. He also adds that the quality of a video, Reel, or photo could also be impacted depending on a couple factors, including its performance.
“In general, we want to show the highest-quality video we can when someone is watching a Story or a Reel or a photo. If something isn’t watched for a long time, ’cause the vast majority of views are in the beginning, we will move to a lower-quality video and then if it’s watched again a lot, then we will re-render the higher-quality video,” Mosseri explained in an Instagram video, according to The Verge. “We also, if we are serving a video to someone on a slow internet connection, we’ll serve a lower-quality video, so that it will load quickly as opposed to giving them a spinner. So it depends. It’s a pretty dynamic system. The goal is to show people the highest-quality content that we can.”
In the comments section of one user’s Threads post, Mosseri emphasized that this method is based on overall data rather than at the individual viewer level and notes that the difference in quality is not a strict, night-and-day contrast but operates on a “sliding scale.”
Mosseri’s response means smaller creators or newcomers on the platform would be most affected by this principle. However, he emphasizes that the change in quality “isn’t huge.” He told another user that people engage with videos far more often based on content versus quality. Online creator sietesavone, who has 14,000 followers on Instagram, commented on Threads regarding Mosseri’s statements, saying that it is “exhausting” and elitist.
