Five Years On, Reels Reigns as India’s Top Short-Form Video Platform

• Reels across our platforms has emerged as India's leading short-form video platform with 92% of users preferring it over other formats that were surveyed.
• Instagram Reels delivers ~33% higher engagement for creators compared to other surveyed platforms.
• We are the leading platform for brand discovery, with 80% of Indians discovering new brands on its platforms.

Social media is now India's go-to destination for content, cutting across age groups, genres, and interests. At the heart of this shift is short-form video, which dominates daily viewing habits nationwide. As Reels marks five years in India, new findings from a Meta-commissioned IPSOS study reveal that Reels is the country's leading short-form video platform-outpacing TV, YouTube, and other surveyed platforms.

Surveying over 3500 people from 33 centres across India, the study highlights the dominance of Reels, driven by strong user preference, creator engagement, and cultural relevance. While 97% of consumers watch short-form videos at least once a day, Reels on Meta emerges as the clear favourite, with 92% choosing it as their preferred platform.

It is now the most viewed short-form video format in India, with 95% of surveyed users watching it everyday, at least 12 percentage points ahead of other surveyed platforms. The study also highlights how Reels top video viewing platform for GenZ and NCCS A and B.

"India is leading the world in video adoption, and Reels is at the center of this shift. Five years since its launch, Reels is India's leading short-form video platform-driving massive engagement, shaping culture, and delivering real business impact. We'll continue to innovate with AI, support creators, and help businesses unlock the power of short-form video." - Arun Srinivas, Managing Director and Head, Meta (India)

Fueling India's culture conversations

Beyond scale, Reels has become the cultural engine of the internet in India. The study shows that culture is born on Reels, as it continues to fuel major online trends, from dance challenges, memes, and POVs to GRWM, beauty transitions, and more. It has also emerged as the go-to platform for creator engagement, driving ~33% higher engagement than other surveyed platforms. Reels drive cultural conversations, leading consumption across genres, with users watching more content on fashion/trends and styles (+40% vs other platforms), beauty and makeup (+20% vs other platforms ), and music/movies (+16% vs other platforms).

Leading in driving brand discovery

For businesses and brands, the impact is equally significant. We are now the top platform for brand discovery, with 80% of Indians saying they discover new brands on our platforms. Reels ads also deliver 2x stronger top-of-mind recall and 4x stronger message association compared to long-form video ads, while being 1.5x more effective in driving brand metrics as compared to long-form skippable video ads. Consumers further rated brand videos on Meta as the most refreshing and enjoyable across all platforms, reaffirming its position as the most effective and engaging destination for marketers.

Together, these findings highlight how Reels has not only reshaped the way India consumes video but also how culture is created, creators are discovered, and brands drive meaningful outcomes, cementing its position as the leading short-form video platform in the country.

To unlock the full potential of Reels, marketers need to focus on capturing, deepening, and scaling attention. This begins with winning attention through social-first creatives designed specifically for the Reels format. From there, brands can deepen attention by collaborating with creators to bring authenticity and cultural relevance to their stories.

Download the report here

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