Reels to remain an important part of Instagram’s growth: Paras Sharma

It was the last year that Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri formally announced the platform is no longer solely about photos and is shifting more of its focus toward creators, video, shopping, and messaging, specifically mentioning  TikTok and YouTube as competitors. But the platform’s intent to grow on the back of video was visible long before that when it announced the launch of IGTV in 2018 and subsequently reels in 2020. Now video remains the primary content format on the Meta-owned app, which has now become a launch platform for several video content creators too. 

And this prominence of video content on Instagram, which was formally launched as a photo sharing platform in 2010 (2013 in India). In a recent virtual conversation with e4m, Facebook India (Meta) Director – Content & Community Partnerships Paras Sharma shared, “As a platform, we are about video as a primary form of content, with obviously short-form content (Reels) being our focus as a format.” 

He added that the idea of Instagram is now to enable creative expression and further propel discovery of content cretors beyond the barriers of language and demography through effective engagement with users. Reels will remain an important part of Instagram’s growth, said Sharma.

“We have been constantly testing the platform, introducing newer tools and better controls to both creators and users to support creative collaboration and content creation. Be it launching features like remixes & collaborations or giving better editing tools like green screen, lyrics, effects etc, the platform is really helping the creators to create the best content,” he emphasized. 

The most recent addition to this bouquet of features is the ‘One Minute Music’  tracks for Reels, which is a set of music tracks and videos, exclusively available on its platform. This includes music from 200 artists across India, including the likes of Shaan, Dhvani Bhanushali, Neeti Mohan, Shaan, Himanshi Khurana, Aniruth and GV Prakaash Kumar. 

Speaking about the same, Sharma quipped, “Music is a great tool of expression, storytelling, and catching user attention. The creators on the platform are, in fact, finding newer creative ways to use music, for example, the very viral ‘Rasode Mein Kaun Tha’ song. So, we wanted to inspire and engage established artists, democratize the creation & distribution of music, and create exclusive tracks for Instagram. And that’s how ‘One Minute Music’ came into being. It is a different critical ecosystem that, we are sure, would lead to discovery of more talented artists across the country.” 

He shared that just within a month of the launch of the property, it has been getting good reaction from the users. “We have launched 40 songs thus far, which have cloaked 35 million+ plays, as we speak, and quarter of a million Reels have been created on them. In fact, the songs are getting a good reach on several OTT platforms too, including the likes of Gaana, Jio Saavn, Wynk, Spotify and Amazon Music etc.” 

But is an increasing focus on videos hampering the creativity and inclusion of other visual artists like photographers, digital artists, and writers? 

Sharma doesn’t think so, “When we create any feature at Instagram, the primary lens is always what the users are wanting to consume. And video is the most popular format of content right now. Secondly, it is very important for us to enable our creators to make the most of this popular format. So, we constantly engage in product deep dives and information sessions to familiarize them with the tools and how they can make the best use of Instagram. We want to strike a fine balance between the creators of today and creators of tomorrow. And that’s why video will remain a core area of focus for us.” 

On being quizzed about the recent feature where the platform is reportedly testing converting all forms of videos into Reels, Sharma replied, “It is all about supporting the creative expression and opening up duration is going to be an aspect of that. We are testing a lot of other features and exploring our options to improve the user experience on our platform,” 

In the list of features under test is also the subscription button for creators. On being asked when can the Indian creators expect a full roll out of this feature and what is the scope of its popularity, Sharma shared, “We are currently testing the product in the US market to understand the adoption patterns and user intent. It will take some time for us to roll it out fully on Instagram in India. But we see a lot of potential in the subscription option as the users are hungry for exclusive, original content.” 

Lastly, e4m asked Sharma about the reaction to the newly launched feature that allows users to choose between three forms of feeds, which also include the original chronological version of it, Sharma shared, “It’s all about giving the users more control over what and how they want to consume on Instagram. There are various consumer needs from a platform – some are here to discover new content, some to engage with their friends and families, and some to view the pages that they have followed. The new update gave the same control to our users.” 

He concluded the discussion by saying that he is quite happy with the performance of Instagram in the Indian market and looks forward to creating more opportunities and ways of creative expression for the creators community.