Instagram's content team has advised that posting Reels longer than 90 seconds can hurt your reach within the app. This advice was shared during a creator event in New York, where Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri answered various questions about the platform.
The team presented a slide indicating that Reels longer than 90 seconds can negatively affect distribution. Other advice included that posting at the same time on different platforms can be beneficial due to broader branding and generating discussion.
Negative impacts on reach can be caused by posting content you didn't create, content with watermarks from other apps, engagement bait, and low-quality content.
Despite the current maximum posting length for Reels created within the app being 90 seconds, Instagram has been experimenting with 3-minute and 10-minute Reels uploads. However, these experiments have not been successful, leading to the advice against longer Reels.
Mosseri also discussed creator monetization and the challenges of creating an equitable, sustainable creator program. He mentioned subscriptions as a potential revenue pathway, but noted that they are only relevant to a small number of creators.
