Instagram: updates and algorithms
It’s been a busy first month of 2025 for social media managers, marketers, creators and overall social media-users. TikTok got banned and un-banned in the U.S in under 14 hours - something we covered in our last blog post - Instagram changed their grid view, added a new metric to their performance insights, and are releasing ‘Edits’ - their own version of TikTok’s successful video editing tool, CapCut.
Let’s break down some of January’s social media news.
Instagram drops Algorithm Insights
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri recently posted a video highlighting the three primary factors that power the platform’s algorithms, in a way to help users optimize their reach and ensure their content being distributed to a wider audience. He listed the three key factors as:
Watch Time being the primary factor of Instagram reach, with Instagram looking to anticipate how likely it is that each user is going to watch the video.
Number of Likes as another key factor, with Instagram looking to show users more content that they enjoy.
Number of Sends as the last key factor, with Instagram’s algorithm considering how likely it is that the user will forward the content to a friend.
To summarize, a key focus this year will be Reels, and the longer you can get the user to watch your Reel, like it and send it to their friends - the better it will be for your reach.
Instagram releases some App Updates
To kick off the year, Instagram rolled out a bunch of updates on their apps (both Instagram and Threads), one major update being their updated grid view. Yep, you read that right.
Instagram has stayed consistent to the 1:1 image grid throughout the years, but have now changed to a 3:4 grid view in order to align more with the increased focus on Reels.
They also intend to move Story highlights to the grid, and place them under its own tab. As Mosseri states: “Highlights are a great way to showcase your favourite stories, but they are visually complicated and push your grid down”.
So, vertical grid view and more tabs are on the horizon. You can still post your 1:1 content, but keep in mind that the grid previews might be compromised.
Instagram increases Reel length and releases Edits
As you might have noticed by now, Instagram seems to have been working full time to position itself as the new go-to social network for all things videos.
They have now updated the maximum length of the Reel format to 3 minutes, an interesting update considering how they’ve always advised against posting Reels longer than 90 seconds. In addition to this, Instagram also shared that in alignment with the update, they are now shifting their best practices and will be recommending longer Reels in discovery surfaces such as the Reels tab and Explore.
To continue on the topic of Reels, Instagram is also rolling out their own video editing app: Edits. The app, in a seeming attempt to win over some TikTok users, sounds fairly similar to TikTok’s editing app CapCut and will hold features such as:
The ability to capture video up to 10 minutes, and store drafts all in one place for easy project management.
Clip-level editing, auto-enhance features, and effects such as green screen, overlays and transitions.
A dedicated tab for trending audio insights and a real time overview of what’s popular on the app.
Access to analytics to evaluate your content performance.
The Edits app is expected to launch on March 13th, 2025.
Instagram adds new View insights
2025 is the year of moving content and analysing your video performance will be of high importance to ensure that your videos are engaging enough to reach new and existing audiences.
Watch Times and View Rates
As we already mentioned, Watch Time is now a primary factor in accumulating reach on Instagram, so keeping tabs on this metric and understanding how to keep your viewers watching is a key consideration for your content plan. In addition to that, IG is now adding a new “View Rate” metric that intends to show you what percentage of your viewers watched beyond the first three seconds of your clip. The metric will also compare this video to your average retention rate, something that could assist in analysing differences in your content assets.
So, to sum up what these news tells us about the content year of 2025, make sure to include plenty of Reels - 90 seconds to 3 minutes long - in your Instagram content plan, include clear hooks to ensure retention and watch rate, and try to incorporate elements in your Reels that are engaging and “send-able” to further optimize your reach.
