Instagram Explains How Its Algorithm Weighs Time Spent Watching Longer Clips

Trying to work out the optimal approach for your Instagram video content, now that views and watch time are the primary drivers of algorithmic engagement in the app?

This could provide some additional context.

Today, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri has provided some more insight into how its content algorithm measures watch time as a percentage of a video, as opposed to a binary count.

Or, really, how it doesn’t

Some creators have raised concerns that posting longer videos on IG could be a negative in this respect, because it would require longer watch time to reach a certain percentage threshold, which could make it harder for these longer clips to gain algorithmic favor.

But Mosseri says that the system actually calculates not only relative watch time, based on completion rate of a clip, but also watch time in isolation.

As explained by Mosseri:

“We don’t want to penalize longer videos, which is why we look at not only the percentage of a video that was watched, but also the number of seconds. If you watched 10 seconds of a minute long video, that is just as many seconds as if it was 10 seconds of a 10 second video, so you won’t be penalized.”

Mosseri doesn’t provide any insight into the algorithmic weighting of each element, so it’s hard to know whether completion rate is more valuable as a reach driver than time spent viewing. But the point here is that Instagram is working to ensure that creators don’t suffer reach penalties for uploading longer clips, even if they don’t reach the same completion rates.

I mean, presumably, completion rates would weigh more heavily, and it would be better for your content if you had more people viewing your longer videos through to the end. But it shouldn’t be a major impact if people are watching a portion of each video, even if they don’t sit through the whole thing.

And with Instagram also recently expanding Reels to 3 minutes, that’s an important proviso, as it looks to get more people posting longer clips.

Essentially, it’s in Instagram’s interest to keep people posting longer clips, as it can help to enhance engagement, and as such, it has no reason to penalize longer videos based on view rates. Having people view to completion would be a positive signal, but Mosseri says that time spent is still a relative indicator.