Meta on Friday rolled out new updates for Instagram. The company announced the addition of a dedicated place for popular audio and hashtags on Reels.
Other updates are the expansion of Reels presents to more countries, improvements to Reels editing tools, and the addition of new metrics.
Creators will now be able to see the top trending tracks on Reels thanks to this latest update.
They will be able to check how many times the audio has been played before tapping it to utilise it or save it for later.
Creators will also be able to check what themes and hashtags are trending on Reels.
To reach the new trending content destination, creators must go to their Professional Dashboard and click the “Check today’s Reels Trends” option.
They will then be sent to a “Reels Trends” website where they may locate popular audio and hashtags.
According to the corporation, the new dedicated section seeks to assist producers understand more about what’s currently popular so that they may better inform their own work and keep on top of trends.
In the coming weeks, Instagram will also offer access to its Gifts monetization function to creators in more countries.
Australia, Canada, France, Mexico, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom will all get the feature.
Gifts, which was originally tested last year, allows fans to send direct monetary support to a favourite creator in the form of themed virtual gifts.
Creators will now have access to additional Reels insights to help them understand how their material is performing.
First, Instagram is introducing a new “total watch time” metric, which tracks the complete length of time a reel was played, including any time spent replaying it.
Second, creators will have access to a new “average watch time” metric, which records the average amount of time spent playing a reel and is derived by dividing watch time by total plays.
The new upgrades come at a time when Meta would be wise to try to capitalise on the increased scrutiny surrounding TikTok, which has been prohibited on government devices in various countries across the world and is currently facing a potential ban in the US.
