Instagram is making “views” the primary metric across all of its formats, meaning that creators will be able to track the same metric across Reels, Stories, photos, and more. The change will roll out in the coming weeks, according to a post on Instagram’s creators account.
“Historically we’ve shown different metrics for Reels vs. other posts, but we want to evolve this so it’s easier to understand how your content is doing regardless of the format,” Instagram chief Adam Mosseri writes in a post. A view is different than reach, Mosseri says in an accompanying video, because the same person can view the same piece of content multiple times.
While views might be the new primary metric, Mosseri also recommends that creators keep an eye on sends per reach. Both are “probably the most important metrics for anybody trying to understand how their content is doing on Instagram,” he says.
Meta has also made views an important metric on Threads, too; earlier this year, the company added the ability to tap a Threads post to see its total view count. And since taking over Twitter, now known as X, Elon Musk has put an increased focus on view counts.