Whether it's the spill about the benefits of rubbing beef tallow on your face, the benefits of specific AB exercises and tips targeting belly fat, or a Gen X dancer hoping for pleasure through body movements, Instagram reels are as diverse as many. But they share something in common. Viewers often say, “What did you do to deserve this?”
Not only does people hate reels, which are short video posts found on Instagram, but some people hate reels to the point where they use it to explain other things they dislike. From music to food to sentimental “mom of a boy” content, being considered “the best for a reel” is a sign off or unwelcome. It's basic, but slightly repulsive. Instagram reels were simultaneously adjectives and insults. It's the type of horny that no one really wants to see, and is a handy negative shorthand for expressing a particular stripe of disgust.
So why do people hate reels so much?
Reel content has long been characterized as bad before being used as a rog-like descriptor. It goes back to its release as a rival to Tiktok in 2020. Unlike other social media video apps (which seem to know a lot about us, leading to concerns about information privacy), Instagram's algorithms are comically disastrous. This is doubly hilarious considering how much data the meta has for us all.
It's scary if Reel is a true tiktok competitor and uses years of collected Instagram and Facebook data to create a truly creepy feed. Thankfully, no one, including Instagram's parent company Meta, doesn't seem to be worried that it would be good.
It's not just you – everyone's reels are full of raw milk, belly fat warnings, and “devil yoga”
Like most social media users, many of us are simply lacquer. For hundreds of millions of people using Instagram, most don't make reels. In 2022, the Wall Street Journal retrieved leaked data from Meta, indicating that only a fifth of Instagram users actually create and post videos on their site. The reel has been able to stick to (they haven't leaked any more creator data since), but the majority of users I spoke to say they still just watch by chance. And I don't particularly like most of the reels they consume.
When I spoke to users about what peered into the feed, the answers ranged from mediocre to odd. A barrage of what no one wanted. I've heard everything from videos featuring mediocre crowd work by random stand-up comedians to infertility guidance, from Satan's rants about how yoga was designed to give him some hints on how to restrain the “impulse of desire” in an intentional disgusting food influencer and air squat.
The social media fanhouse mirror says he likes to paint the skin and drink milk that doesn't drink raw milk,” and “Do you look like someone who wants to confirm that yoga is a demonic practice?”
Social media editor Adam Moussa explains that Reels pumps out strange videos and isn't a singular experience. Moussa works primarily in food journalism. This means not only need to cut videos on platforms like reels, but you also need to study what else you have there and what you are getting. He turns out to be not actively stimulating for everyone. He compares watching the video on the app, imitating gold and leaving in a gravel mound.
“I feel that the algorithms are very scattered, so it's actively bad to do things that can be considered curation,” Mussa told Vox.
“You can see a constant repetition of “long engagement farming slops, videos opened with shots of kitchen sinks and doorknobs, and texts that say, “It took me 45 years to learn this.” As you see, it makes you believe that it's just a series of random things strung together, leading you to a reward that never comes,” Mussa added.
The reel appears to reward this type of social media edging. As Moussa and others can communicate, the platform seems to prioritize videos with more views than videos that many people enjoy. These two are not mutually exclusive and may overlap, but prioritizing videos where users continue to watch videos with their likes and aggressively double-tap seems to be one of the reasons why reels are so rebounding.
Perhaps with some kind of reward, such as humor, satisfaction, or shock, Yoga Yi Is Domon Dance and Guy Imagine's gender swap super bowl reels will feel like mind mad. At least they serve some purpose and are worth sharing, even if it was in a way like “This video is very bad.” But the pure lack of shock makes me feel very frustrating.
Vox contacted Meta for comment on Reels' algorithm and did not receive a response.
Are there any old man reels known as millennials?
It is also worth noting that generational divisions on the platform may determine at least some of the voice's complaints.
Jessica Gross, a columnist for the New York Times, which covers Internet culture and parent-child relationships, explained that it makes sense that the algorithms and content on social media platforms they pioneered reflect interests, especially for age-appropriate. However, she points out that there is a predominance of certain types of content.
“Instagram was there [millennial] Mama's influencer monetized very well from the start. They were some of the first people who really started making a lot of money – a lot of them were in that kind of wellness space, but they were like being a hot guy who just happened to be a mommy,” Gross tells me, explaining that Instagram became a natural progression of maternal influencers who started blogging. These influencers were more popular as their peers became their parents themselves. A highly informal survey of millennial users found that parenting content was flooded, whether or not they had children.
That said, whether it's motherhood, relationship advice, fitness tips, or cooking videos, the inherent problem with millennials making millennials is that, no matter how “good” it is – like many generations before them, millennials are inevitably horny.
“Lille can feel like she's on social media with her parents,” creator and influencer Beverly Hart tells Vox. Hart is a young millennial, 31 years old, in Gen Z cusp. Content, the way it's all presented, the interface – it all feels a bit outdated and watches older people talk and joke with other older people. Heart prefers tiktok.
“The frizz of millennials is hard to see,” she told me.
What came first: content or algorithm?
At the heart of the reel, frustration is a chicken or egg scenario. Was the first one that came in the algorithm or content? For Reels' Slop algorithm to work, it requires slops to push out, so are creators making more and more slops to feed the beast? Or did you have a huge amount of slops in the first place and did the algorithm adapt accordingly?
For Sharon Kim, creator of lifestyle content, Lille encourages the specific types of videos she makes.
“I and many women I know spend time making fitness and lifestyle things that are healthy, uplifting or inspirational, but the algorithm doesn't push it to my followers' .08,” says Kim, who has 10,400 followers on Instagram. “But if you post yourself in a bikini or make-up, everything on your sudden Instagram will immediately push content.”
Kim likes Tiktok, who, like the other creators I've spoken to, is a stubbornly eager to eat peppers in Beijing Gurumaine at Falls Church, Virginia.
Kim's father numbers are sweating and roaming her face, but she emphasizes Instagram's ratings for the excellent value of posting herself in a bikini, as well as her gulf between Tiktok and Lille. Although they are both curated parts of her life, she allows her to show other aspects of her personality, the latter makes her feel like she's in a box. Tiktok also has a better build for the video to go viral.
“Instagram [and Reels] It may or may not be for friends who know you on the internet. Tiktok is an internet stranger who doesn't know you.
On the reel, some say you might meet strangers Please don't We will support you.
“The Comments section, Hart, who creates content for both Reels and Tiktok, talks about metasites. Her videos tend to focus on fashion and beauty, combining the two of them and the political experiences as staff at Motooka. However, she doesn't post about politics on Instagram, because those clips often go viral on Tiktok. She fears how Instagram comments are uncontrollable. The negativity about reels may reflect negativity Above reel.
The meaningless video relies on the preference of generations to lose cool elements, and features a set dull content from uninspired creators using the nasty comment section. It's no wonder the reels have become light and jordan.
Perhaps the most frustrating hilarious thing to watch the reel flop with its badness is that it all comes back to something much more basic than the diagnosis. Meta can modify the reel if you really want it.
“What I care most about all of this is that the platform can remove shit. Social media producer Mussa tells me, “But they don't. Meta doesn't give you fuck about incentivizing high quality content on the platform, or we won't allow a system that allows creators and brands to be worthwhile to actually see.”
But if Meta does, unfortunately we need to find a new way to talk about the reels.
