Instagram introduces 2x speed reels, to assist with halving the attention span

Instagram is rolling out a double-speed toggle for its reels, allowing users to consume short-form content even faster.

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Credit: Instagram

According to an Instagram representative, the feature was 'highly requested' by the community and aimed to give users more control over the Reels experience. Reels currently operate at lengths of 15 seconds up to 3 minutes, and the new settings would allow users to long-press on the edge of the screen to double playback speed.

The impact of short-form social media content is a topic of increasing concern, particularly among youths. Reels on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube are designed to be short, engaging, and algorithmically driven, and studies have identified detrimental effects on attention spans, cognitive function, and academic performance.

Users can now take advantage of the feature as of Thursday afternoon. According to the IG spokesperson, the rollout may take up to 24 hours to come into effect, and users can update their apps to start using it.

"Everyone on IG should have access by the end of the day," a spokesperson told CNET.

While this feature is already inherent on longer-form platforms like Netflix and YouTube, the venture into high-speed reel content is relatively new. TikTok was the first to introduce the feature, and given the popular community reception, it's possible that YouTube Shorts may follow suit soon.

TikTok, despite of the current uncertainty surrounding the brand's future, remains the key player in the short-form space with a 40% market share. Instagram Reels and YouTube shorts hold a 20% slice of the pie, and in late 2023, surged to 2.8 billion users.