Longer reels actually getting more views for me, anyone else?
I checked my numbers recently and my reels over a minute long are getting significantly more views than the short ones. This surprised me because everything I read says keep it under 30 seconds.
For stone carving content it kind of makes sense. Showing a form emerge from a block of limestone isn't something you can rush through in 15 seconds without it feeling like nothing happened. The slow reveal of a polished hollow catching light, or the moment a fracture changes the whole direction of a piece, those need a little room to breathe.
But I wonder if the algorithm is just rewarding watch time right now and will shift again next month. Has anyone else noticed longer content performing better lately? And does it depend on what you're showing, like process versus finished work?
In my experience the length thing really depends on what you're making and who's watching. Process content for sculpture, stone carving, anything where transformation is the whole point, that stuff just falls flat when it's crammed into fifteen seconds. I've had the same thing happen with short clips of a clay form taking shape, people scroll right past because nothing meaningful registered. The longer ones where you can actually see the material change, those hold attention. What's helped me is just committing to whatever format feels natural for a good stretch of time, like months not weeks, before deciding if it's working. And honestly some weeks I barely have studio time between soccer practice and kiln disasters, so a quick twenty second clip is all I've got. Consistency matters more than nailing the perfect length every time.