What does Instagram officially say helps or hurts Reels reach (originality, watermarks, length, first seconds, trial reels), and how does that differ from YouTube?

Instagram official pages (captured 2026-10-23): reels follow the Recommendation Guidelines and are made less visible to non-followers if low-resolution, watermarked, muted, bordered, majority text, or already posted on Instagram (reposts); clickbait, engagement bait and contest/giveaway promotion are non-recommendable; Instagram says its most important predictions for reels include how likely you are to reshare a reel and to watch it, and it surveys users ("is this worth your time?"). Creator FAQ tips: upload the highest resolution, make the first 3 seconds engaging, ditch third-party watermarks (e.g. from other apps), post original content; reels over 3 minutes are not recommended to unconnected audiences. Jan 2025 update: US creators could publish reels up to 3 minutes; "Trial reels" show content only to non-followers first; Edits app announced; ranking changes aimed at giving creators of all sizes a chance. Platform differences: unlike YouTube (A/B tests by watch time, C3-B336-02; search relevance/engagement/quality, C3-B344-01), Instagram explicitly penalizes watermarked cross-posts and reposts in recommendations, so repurposing YouTube Shorts with watermarks to Instagram is counterproductive; TikTok has a similar originality bar for its For You feed (C3-B363-01). Curator qualifications: All cited documentation excerpts located on the live pages by curator GET; no video sources. Provider documentation as served 2026-10-23; models, limits and prices change without notice. Limitations: Ranking blog date not extracted; signals list partial. Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/instagram-ranking-explained",
      "note": "Reels section; tips; Reels over 3 minutes; Share reels with only people who don't follow you yet"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://creators.instagram.com/faq",
      "note": "Reels section; tips; Reels over 3 minutes; Share reels with only people who don't follow you yet"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://creators.instagram.com/blog/the-latest-with-instagram",
      "note": "Reels section; tips; Reels over 3 minutes; Share reels with only people who don't follow you yet"
    }
  ]
}