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Instagram Reels Update: In good news for Instagram users around the world, the Meta-owned popular photo-sharing application has announced some interesting new features to empower creators.

The company has added a dedicated destination for trending audio and hashtags, two new metrics to Reels insights and brought gifts on Reels to more countries. “You’ll be able to see the top trending songs on Reels, see how many times the audio has been used, tap in to use it, or save the audio for yourself,” said Instagram.

According to the company, users will also be able to see what the top trending topics and hashtags are on Reels to inform their own content. These are the types of insights you can tap into with the new trends destination.

“We’re making it easier for you to edit your reels on Instagram by bringing together video clips, audio, stickers, and text on a unified editing screen. This makes it easier to align and time elements of your reel to the right moments in a more visual ways,” said Instagram in a blog post. This is available globally, across both iOS and Android devices.

The two new metrics being added on Reels are total watch time and average watch time. “Total watch time captures the total amount of time your reel was played, including any time spent replaying the reel. Average watch time captures the average amount of time spent playing your reel, calculated by dividing watch time with the number of total plays,” explained the company.

For example if your average watch time is 17 seconds, out of everyone who watched your Reel they watched an average of 17 seconds. This will help creators better understand where people are being engaged or where you may need to create a stronger hook to have viewers stay longer.

Instagram is also adding a new way to see how your reels are contributing to your growth. You’ll now receive a notification with new followers from your reels. “Today we’re excited to share our plan to bring gifts to even more creators with upcoming expansions to more markets, including Australia, Canada, France, Mexico, New Zealand and the UK, in the coming weeks,” said Instagram

It is also adding a new feature to show you which fans have sent you a gift so you can recognize your supporters. If you tap the heart icon next to your supporters, they’ll get a notification that you’ve seen and recognized their gift, providing an even stronger sense of connection between you and your fans.

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