Instagram Reels: Choosing a North-Star Metric, Creator Metrics and Guardrails

You are the product manager at Instagram who owns Reels, its short-form video feature. How would you define success for Reels, and how would you measure it? ```hint Success for whom? Start from why Instagram built Reels and who has to win for it to work. Then ask whether your top metric could rise while Instagram as a whole gets no better. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - What stage are we in: launch, early growth, or a mature product where monetization matters as much as adoption? - Is success judged for Reels alone, or for Instagram overall, so that time which simply moves from Feed and Stories into Reels counts for less? - Should the metrics cover every surface where Reels appear (the Reels tab, Feed, Explore, profiles and shares in direct messages) and every region? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A goal for Reels tied to Instagram's mission and business, adjusted for the product's stage - Metrics for each side of the ecosystem: viewers, creators and advertisers - One north-star metric, chosen over named alternatives with a reason - Guardrails for cannibalization of Feed and Stories, content quality, integrity and wellbeing - How to attribute impact, for example with a long-term holdout, given network effects ### Follow-up Questions - Reels watch time keeps rising while total time spent in Instagram stays flat. Is Reels succeeding? - How would your metrics change once the goal shifts from growth to monetization? - Many Reels turn out to be reposts of videos made for other apps. How would you measure that and respond?