India is the Meta's largest market with a combined subscriber base of over a billion across its umbrella of apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Threads. 

In a bid to enhance user experience and support aspiring creators, Instagram on Thursday launched the “Creator Lab” in India to offer educational resources and insights from diverse creators.  

Instagram has also rolled out several exciting features, including advanced creative text tools, expanded carousel sizes, and music integration in posts. These updates cater specifically to Gen Z’s preferences, with new options like Add Yours Music and Multitrack Audio on Reels designed to enhance engagement and creativity. 

On the sidelines of the launch, e4m spoke to Paras Sharma, Director, Global Partnerships, Meta India, to understand his perspective on the new Instagram algorithm, emergence of tier two and three cities as creator powerhouse, AI and Open Source LLM among other topics.  

On growth in India 

In India, Instagram is the most used social media platform. According to reports, there are more than 400 million active Instagram users in India with GenZ making up a large portion of its user base. The platform has grown into a source of income for creators and a great sales channel for businesses.

Sharma refrains from sharing any numbers or growth rates, stating, “We are not permitted to disclose exact figures. However, India stands out globally for both content creation and consumption, thanks to its large, young population. These factors highlight Instagram’s strong presence in India,” he says. 

“However, I want to highlight that the largest amount of growth powering Instagram or creators' overall ecosystem is now increasingly coming from tier two and tier three cities. It's not just passive consumption, but creation is getting powered from there. More number of creators with a larger number of following on a per unit basis is coming from tier two and tier three.” 

India and Bharat have been central to Instagram's creativity for years, with regional creators from these towns producing remarkable content,” Sharma stated, adding, “We are seeing the sensibilities of what colloquially is called "Bharat" being played out in Instagram, not in the last three months, six months, but over a couple of years now.”

On new algorithm 

Historically, content from creators with large followings and reposted content dominated recommendations. To address this, Instagram has revamped its content ranking system (algorithm). 

The new algorithm will show content to a small audience first, regardless of whether they follow the creator or not. Based on the response of this small audience, it will be shown to a section of their followers and then to more followers. Besides, reposted content will be replaced by original posts, and reposts will now include links to the original creators. Additionally, content aggregators will be excluded from recommendations. This overhaul aims to level the playing field, giving all eligible posts a fair chance to reach new viewers. 

When asked about the algorithm, Sharma explains, “The changes in the ranking and recommendation algorithms are built to help emerging creators get discovered and to expose users to interesting content they might not be following but will find engaging.” 

Who is going to decide whose content to be shown to which segment of audience? Does privacy come into play here, considering users might see content from accounts they don’t follow?

Sharma responds, “Content recommendations are designed with privacy as a foundational principle. No individual controls our ranking or recommendations; they are driven by the algorithm while respecting user privacy.” 

He insists, “From the time immemorial, Facebook feed was powered by AI. Increasingly more and more content, which is going to get recommended and therefore ranked is getting powered through AI. About 50% of the content that people see on Instagram globally is powered through AI. Now, ranking recommendations are improving to show more original content to more people.” 

The Meta executive insists that the user's privacy continues to be foundational. 

On erring influencers 

On asked about the challenges Meta faces while handling requests from the government about removing influencer content or withholding their accounts for violation of rules, Sharma responds by saying: “It's a policy question but all I can say is that we work closely with all stakeholders. And what we can share with you is that we work extremely closely with the Advertising Central Council of India (ASCI). We’re one of the first platforms to widely share ASCI guidelines through Born on Instagram and host webinars, showing our strong commitment to engaging with all stakeholders," he says.

On open source LLM

Mark Zuckerberg’s philosophy of open source drives Meta’s approach, utilizing foundational technologies like PyTorch, which is available to developers. The commitment extends to ongoing development of creative tools. Meta remains dedicated to these principles and technologies, according to Sharma.

"We see Gen AI as something which can amplify creativity and knowledge and which can work as an assistant. The biggest manifestation of AI we have seen in India is the Meta AI. The country has also become the largest market in terms of usage for Meta AI (AI-chatbot)," he says.