Instagram could put Reels at the center instead of the photo feed. From automatic editing to an algorithm increasingly similar to TikTok: this is how the social media is evolving.
Instagram was born as a social network in which to publish square photographs, but that version of the platform now seems to belong to another era. Following a consolidated trend, Meta is in fact increasingly pushing Instagram towards short videos and in recent weeks it is experiencing a significant change: some users may choose to open the app directly in the Reels section, instead of in the traditional feed of photographs and posts.
The Stories would remain visible at the top of the screen, while to reach the old content flow it would be necessary to move sideways. For now it is only a test that would still give the possibility of returning to the classic view, but the direction is clear, also because, according to the most recent estimates, Reels now absorb over 50% of the time spent by users on the social network.
Reels in the center
This isn’t the first time Instagram has tried a setup like this. In 2025, Meta had already started a “Reels-first” test in India, in which the app opened directly on vertical videos, while still keeping the Stories at the top and allowing you to reach the feed of the followed accounts with a swipe.
At the same time, a simplification of the interface intended for all users has begun: private messages are brought to the center of the lower bar and Reels take on an even more prominent position, making the transition between videos and conversations quicker. Meta states that Reels and private messages have become the two main drivers of Instagram’s growth and that already in 2025 short videos were reshared through the group’s apps more than 4.5 billion times a day.
Everything easier
The transformation also concerns who produces the Reels. In August Instagram introduced FirstDrafta function that takes several films chosen by the user, automatically eliminates pauses and unuseful parts and creates in a few seconds a first edited version of the film, which can then be edited using the normal methods. Meta is also experimenting Serieswhich allows creators to combine multiple videos into a neat sequence, turning isolated clips into real episodes of the same story, tutorial or course.
Added to these functions are automatic translations based on artificial intelligence, which can resume the audio and modify the subtitles of the Reels in multiple languages, even adapting the movement of the protagonist’s lips to the new speech. The goal is clear: to make videos easier to create and capable of reaching ever wider audiences.
Like TikTok
The algorithm will also adapt. Instagram is expanding Your Algorithmthe tool with which users can indicate which topics they want to see more or less often, and is experimenting with new ways to make these controls directly accessible while scrolling through content.
The platform also relaunched i Trial Reelswhich allow creators to show a video first to users who don’t follow them, evaluate views and interactions and only then decide whether to distribute it to their followers as well.
All these changes inevitably bring Instagram closer to the model made popular by TikTok: no longer a social network built primarily around the people you have chosen to follow, but a platform that continuously offers videos selected by the algorithm based on everyone’s tastes. Photographs will not disappear, of course, but it is becoming increasingly clear which format Meta considers to be the future.
