Instagram lowers quality for less popular videos
Listen to the story (Canadian accent)
Instagram makes old and less popular videos look worse. Adam Mosseri, the boss of Instagram, confirmed this.
Some creators do not like this change. One creator, Siete Savone, says it hurts their art. She loves Instagram but thinks this change makes her work look bad.
Mosseri says Instagram makes videos look worse if no one watches them for a long time. If a video gets popular again, it will look better. Social media expert Matt Navarra says this change makes it hard for new creators to get followers. He thinks it helps big creators more than small ones.
Instagram does this to save money. High-quality videos need more computer power and storage. Some people understand this but think it is not fair to change the quality of people’s art.
Navarra and Mosseri think that people care more about the content of a video than the quality of the video. Navarra tells creators to make interesting videos.
Mosseri thinks the quality difference is small.
Vocabulary13 words
- Popular
- Liked by many people; something many people like; common; frequent
- Worse
- Not as good as something else; “more bad”;
- Confirm
- to prove true or accurate; to report that something is true or fact
- Creator
- producer; someone who makes something new; a person who makes content
- Hurt
- To cause pain or damage to someone/something; to feel pain or have an injury; to have damage to the body
- Social media
- Websites and apps that allow people to communicate and share information online (Facebook, X, TikTok, etc.)
- Expert
- a person with a lot of knowledge and experience in a trade, job or profession
- Follower
- A person who likes or supports someone; a person who follows or watches another person on social media
- Computer power
- The ability of a computer to do things; the performance of a computer
- Storage
- space available for keeping or storing something
- Fair
- to follow or go by the rules or standards; honorable; proper; agreeing with what is thought to be right or acceptable;
- Quality
- how good or bad something is; condition;
- Content
- information, images, video, etc. that are included as part of something like a website or social media account; material created by a person
Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
Instagram _____ old and less popular videos look worse. Adam Mosseri, the _____ of Instagram, confirmed this.
Some _____ do not like this change. One creator, Siete Savone, says it hurts their _____. She loves Instagram but thinks this change _____ her work look bad.
Mosseri says Instagram makes _____ look worse if no one watches them for a long time. _____ a video gets popular again, it will _____ better. Social media expert Matt Navarra says this _____ makes it hard for new creators to get _____. He thinks it helps big creators more than small ones.
_____ does this to save money. High-quality videos need more _____ power and storage. Some people understand this but think it is not _____ to change the quality of people’s art.
Navarra and Mosseri think that _____ care more about the content of a video than the quality of _____ video. Navarra tells creators _____ make interesting videos.
Mosseri thinks the _____ difference is small.
Discussion questions
- Do you think it's fair for Instagram to lower the quality of old videos?
- Do you think people care more about video quality or content?
- Should creators focus more on quality or quantity?
- Do you create content for social media? Why or why not?
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