Opinion
Reels now account for 46% of time on Instagram in the US and Meta tests opening the app directly on video
This is an opinion column. Data comes from Sensor Tower and Meta, cited second-hand.
Source: Blog du Modérateur, 21 oct (opinión de Étienne Caillebotte) — Data from Sensor Tower and Meta, without published methodology.
According to the article, Meta is testing in a few unnamed countries an interface that opens Instagram directly on the video feed. A spokesperson confirmed it to The Verge. A similar test on Facebook, enabled by default, is active in India and Indonesia.
Data cited: more than half of Instagram ads in 2025 were in Reels (35% the previous year) and Reels accounted for 46% of time in the app in the US (Sensor Tower). Meta says in 2022 they were around 20%. In the FTC trial, Meta revealed that friends' content dropped from 11% to 7% of time over two years.
The European Commission published on July 10, 2026, preliminary findings against Instagram and Facebook for addictive design (Digital Services Act). It is unknown whether the test will be rolled out.
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