Instagram setting "views" as the primary metric for all content

Instagram is getting a tweak to make metrics easier to read across all types of content. Before, different types of content (photos and videos) used different names for metrics that basically meant the same thing. Now, Instagram is making “views” the primary metric to avoid confusion.

Content creators can monitor the metrics of their Instagram posts through Insights. However, many may have noticed that there are metric names that are not consistent across content. For example, photos use “impressions” to show how many times they have been viewed, while Reels use “plays” for the same metric.

Instagram is replacing “impressions” and “plays” metrics with “views”

Having different names for the same data can lead to confusion, as some creators may think they are different metrics. This can lead them to make wrong decisions about how they manage their accounts. With this in mind, Adam Mosseri, Instagram’s head, announced that the platform will set “views” as the primary metric for all types of content. So, “views” will replace the above-mentioned metric names for both photos and videos.

Basically, Instagram is making it more consistent and clear how it displays how many times your post has been viewed. However, Mosseri says the algorithms will continue to work as they do now. That is, there are no changes to the visibility of your content, only to how you get the data. The change will be implemented over the “next couple of weeks.”

Mosseri also offered tips for content creators to better understand how their content is performing on Instagram. He said that “views,” “sends per reach,” and “reach” are probably the most important metrics to follow. “Views” is the number of impressions/plays per post, increasing when a particular person revisits .... “Reach,” on the other hand, only counts how many individual people have seen a particular post at least once.

Lastly, “sends per reach” compares the number of users who have shared a post via DM to the number of viewers. These three metrics should help you know which content works best with your audience.