Instagram has confirmed that the quality of videos on its platform is influenced by their popularity. According to Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, videos that garner more views and engagement are shown in higher quality, while less popular videos may be displayed in lower quality.
This revelation came to light through a video posted by Mosseri, where he explained that Instagram aims to deliver the highest quality video possible. However, if a video doesn’t receive significant engagement early on, the platform may opt for a lower quality version to optimize storage and bandwidth.
This practice isn’t entirely new, as Meta, Instagram’s parent company, previously mentioned using different encoding configurations based on video popularity. However, Mosseri’s recent video sparked renewed discussion and criticism, with some users expressing concerns about fairness and potential bias towards popular creators.
Mosseri clarified that these decisions are made on an aggregate level, meaning individual viewer engagement doesn’t directly affect the video quality for that specific viewer. Instead, the system prioritizes higher quality encoding and storage for creators who consistently generate more views.
This approach has raised concerns about a potential feedback loop, where popular creators benefit from higher quality videos, further reinforcing their popularity. However, Mosseri argued that content remains the primary factor driving engagement, and the quality difference isn’t significant enough to hinder smaller creators from gaining traction.
While Instagram’s intentions may be to optimize its platform’s performance, the revelation about video quality adjustments has sparked a debate about fairness and the potential impact on smaller creators.
