Instagram Confirms It Lowers Video Quality as Views Decline

Deepika

2 years ago

If you have noticed that your older Instagram reels don’t look as sharp or vibrant as when you first uploaded them, you are not imagining things. Instagram has officially confirmed that video quality on the platform is tied to performance.

Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, recently addressed the issue, explaining why some videos experience a drop in quality over time.

“In general, we want to show the highest-quality video we can… But if a video isn’t watched much after its initial release — since most views happen early on — we will lower the video’s quality. If it starts gaining traction again, we’ll re-render the video in higher quality,” Mosseri said.

This approach helps Instagram allocate resources more efficiently, prioritizing higher-quality streaming for videos that continue to perform well. Mosseri assured users that the quality shift “isn’t huge.” If a video starts gaining significant views again, Instagram will automatically restore it to its highest possible quality.

Small creators may find it problematic because they don’t get too many views on their videos. Even after putting efforts into making videos of high quality, the platform will serve videos of lower quality. To address this, Mosseri argues that people engage based on video content, not quality.

So while your content may initially appear in the best quality, its resolution may drop if engagement dwindles, only to be upgraded if it resurges in popularity.

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