Instagram just announced it will start recommending long-form Reels in your feed. Here’s our take:

The Great Reels Length Saga of 2025
For months, Instagram told creators, “Keep it under 90 seconds!”. Just last May, at a creator event, their team was practically begging creators not to post longer Reels, insisting “People just don’t engage with them!”… Fast forward to 2025, where suddenly Instagram’s singing a different tune: “The appetite around long-form content is changing.”

What’s Actually Happening?
Instagram has officially declared that longer Reels will get the same algorithmic push as shorter ones in the Explore tab. They’re not just tolerating longer videos; they’re actively promoting them.

Reading Between the Lines
Let’s be real–this probably has a lot to do with TikTok’s success with longer videos. With TikTok facing uncertainty in the US, Instagram is clearly positioning itself as the go-to alternative for creators who might be looking for a backup plan.

What This Means For Creators
You can now post Reels up to 3 minutes long, and Instagram promises they won’t bury longer content. But whether your audience actually wants to sit through a 3-minute Reels, that’s another story—one Instagram is conspicuously quiet about.

The Bottom Line
More flexibility is great, but just because you can make a 3-minute Reel doesn’t mean you should. Sometimes, less is more.

You can read more here.