Instagram says its algorithm won’t promote reels that have a TikTok watermark

Instagram’s latest recommendations for creators make one thing clear: the platform wants people to stop posting recycled TikToks on Reels. Today Instagram says it is changing its algorithm and how it recommends Reels to users. Along with that, he’s posting new best practices on his @creators account to give Instagram users tips on how to create content that can be seen and promoted.

The team now recommends that Reels users post vertical videos that use music found in Instagram’s library or sounds they find on Reels. They also suggest “start a trend” that others can join in, such as dance freaks, as well as “entertaining” and “fun” content. Spools that are mostly covered in text, are out of focus, have a watermark or logo, or have a border around them will not be recommended as often.

“We’re building on what we’ve learned from Explore to recommend fun and entertaining videos in places like the Reels tab, and personalize the experience,” spokesperson Devi Narasimhan says in an email to The edge. “We’re making better and better use of ranking signals that help us predict whether people will find a reel entertaining and whether we should recommend it.”

Narasimhan says surveys of Instagram users have shown that people have a “less satisfying” Reels experience when content is recycled from other apps or is blurry, so he will start de-emphasizing that content in his software. recommendation. This makes it less likely to be discovered by people who don’t follow the person who posted it.

It’s no surprise that these recommendations come six months after Reels launched in the United States. The platform might have been okay with people bringing their TikToks to Instagram initially, but as it appears to be becoming a popular destination on its own, Instagram needs to make sure Reels isn’t just an ad for TikTok, or worse, a place where people just dump the content they’ve already created. However, that could mean more work for the creators, who will eventually have to shift some of their effort to Reels, rather than focusing on a single platform and distributing the content everywhere else.