The photo platform once known for its square photos has now surpassed three billion monthly active users – and Instagram doesn’t credit that success with photos. Instagram head Adam Mosseri shared the milestone on Wednesday, September 24, attributing the success to DMs, Reels, and recommendations.
Because of that success, Mosseri says the social media platform will reorient the app towards those three key traffic drivers over the next few months. Meanwhile, the company will soon begin testing a way to give users more control over the Reels algorithm.
“When we hit those types of milestones, I think it’s important to take a big step back and think about how we got here and where we’re going,” Mosseri said in a video shared on Wednesday. “And if you look at the last few years, almost all of our growth has been driven by DMs, Reels, and recommendations (content from accounts that you have not yet decided to follow). Because of that, we are going to continue to focus on those products and reorient the app more around DMs, Reels, and recommendations over the next couple of months.”
While Instagram has been pushing for Reels for years now – even launching an iPad app that opens directly to Reels instead of the traditional photo feed – that renewed focus also includes Instagram recommendations, which is the content that the algorithm feeds up that doesn’t come from a followed account. “Following still matters, but not as much as it used to,” Mosseri said.
The comments on the announcement video are filled with mixed reactions. Many congratulate the platform on the milestone and applaud more control over the algorithm. Others call the app “diet YouTube” or criticize the video focus as a “TikTok copy.” Instagram recommendations saw some criticism in the comments as well, with some creators expressing frustration with content not reaching followers.
Mosseri didn’t share exactly what the “reorientation” towards DMs, Reels, and recommendations would look like, but the app is testing an update that opens first to the Reels page in India, much like the new iPad app.
Mosseri, however, did give a better glimpse into the test of a new tool to control what type of content the algorithm delivers. The tool will be located in the settings and allow users to remove things, add things, or place topics lower or higher on the list. Those changes will then be applied in Reels first, but also in Explore and Feed, Mosseri said.
Instagram’s focus on Reels isn’t new. The vertical video format, first launched in 2020, quickly became the type of content with the most engagement, becoming a focus for many of the app's updates.
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