Ever since Instagram launched the reels back in August 2020, the whole picture of this social media platform has been transformed forever. Around the time of the launch, most netizens were skeptical about the launch because it closely resembled TikTok videos, and the last thing Instagrammers wanted was to turn Instagram into TikTok. But what do netizens know about what they want?
Within a very short time, Instagram proved them all wrong. The popularity of reels caught on the platform like a wildfire, and before the year ended, everybody was making reels, be it of themselves, of their holidays, nature architecture, or even random things.
Many would claim that Instagram gave a new twist to short videos. But truth be told, it was the creators of the platform who made reels what they are today. Just like everything else on Instagram is so aesthetic; that is exactly what they captured in the reels as well. And suddenly, everybody wanted to make or watch reels, so much so that the platform later dedicated a whole tab to exploring new reels.
Since we’ve been talking about reels so far, you must’ve already gotten the idea of what our blog is going to be about. Spoiler alert: it’s about the views on those reels. Curious to know which direction we’re headed in? Stick with us till the end to find out!
Views on Instagram Reels: Everything you should know about them
We’ve already familiarized you with the concept of reels on Instagram earlier, but what are views on Instagram reels? Well, as is clear from the name itself, the views of a reel indicate how many unique accounts have watched it. Now, you might not be able to find the views of a reel directly in the Reels section or on your Feed. But when you open someone’s profile and check out the Reels tab there, you will find a number written on the bottom left corner of each reel with a play icon next to it.
This number indicates how many people have watched it. Now, let’s talk about the scope of visibility of reel view counts. Who can see your reel view count?
Well, the answer will depend on whether you have a business or a private account. In the case of the former, practically any Instagrammer can check the view count of your reels. On the other hand, as a private account owner, the view count of your reels is only visible to your followers. In other words, anyone who can watch your reel can also check its view count.
Do you have a business account on Instagram? Switching to private might help
As we mentioned earlier, as the owner of a business or public account on Instagram, any reel you make, along with its view count, is open for all Instagrammers to see. If that bothers you, or you want to control who gets to see the view count, you could consider switching to a private account.
We wouldn’t bore you with the steps you need to follow for it because we know you must be familiar with them already. But allow us to tell you this:
Switching to a private Instagram will not only limit the audience of your reels’ view count but also of the reels themselves. If you go through with the switch, only the people who follow you will see your reels as well as their view. Is that something you want? Make sure you’re satisfied with your answer before reaching any decision.
Hiding view count from particular users: blocking them
If you don’t mind the usual public view on your reels’ view count but have a problem with some specific users that see them, here’s another way out for you: consider blocking them.
Because Instagram currently has no provision of hiding view counts on reels, the only other way you can compel some users to keep their nose out of your way is by blocking them. If it’s something you can consider, we needn’t tell you how blocking someone works; you might have done it many times already.
However, if this seems like a bit of an extreme measure, we’d, unfortunately, have to suggest you to make your peace with it; at least until the platform decides to launch such a feature.
Hiding views and likes from Instagram posts? Is it the same thing?
There’s a certain setting on Instagram’s Privacy tab. If you tap on the Posts option from the tab, you’ll land on another tab where the first option you’d find is of Hide Like and View Counts with a toggle switch drawn next to it. While this switch is always turned off by default, you can turn it on if you want that setting.
Now, some blogs on the internet claim that doing so will also make the view counts from your reels disappear. But does that really work? Well, if it did, we’d have told you about it already, wouldn’t we?
The truth is, this setting only works for your posts, as is obvious from the fact that you find the option within Posts. And if you want to change that setting for a post, you can easily do that by tapping on the Ellipsis icon on the individual post itself.
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