Massive growth in reels in past two years, says Meta's Ajit Mohan

Video is real and short-form rules the Meta world. Video overall makes up 50 per cent of the time people spend on Facebook, and Reels is growing quickly globally. Ajit Mohan, VP and MD, Facebook India (Meta), says that for the near future, the focus for Meta in the country will be video and WhatsApp for businesses. In an interview with Shivani Shinde, he shares that many more products will be created for India and then scaled globally. He also talks about regulation, the success of Reel and WhatsApp for business after Jio Mart. Edited excerpts:

Why do you say that videos will be your focus for the near future?

I think there are two things: one, how deep videos or reels have gone into the country… We have seen a massive growth in reels in the last two years, it shows up in the numbers. But you realise that the growth is real when you see it even in smaller towns.

Second, the optimism of creators. They are not doing just for followership, and this seriousness and passion is being picked up by brands too. Reels make up more than 20 per cent of the time people spend on Instagram, globally.

Everyone wants to know how the next 500-600 million users will get onto the internet and who will manage to get them on their platform. What is Meta’s plan?

Globally our products — Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — have become so popular because they have a proposition that is relevant for everyone. We have 3.5 billion people who use a Meta platform every month. I think now, more and more the first-used cases for people coming online for the first time are becoming reels. We were always video first, increasingly we are short-form video first.

YouTube Shots is also gearing up, plus there are several home-grown platforms that have upped the video game. How is Meta taking that competition?

Even in the absence of TikTok, it’s an intensely competitive market. There's no question that everyone recognises the potential, and there is a lot of effort and investment going into it. 

The one platform that has broken out and separated itself from everyone else is Instagram and reels as a format. There’s a whole generation of creators and is growing fast, who are building for Instagram, and seeing this as the real thing. While it's competitive, I think the breakout success story of the short form video over the last two years is reels.

How do you see WhatsApp payment gearing up its numbers?

I think the real opportunity for WhatsApp Pay would be if it can bring in new users to UPI. That is the incremental value we can provide to NPCI. The UPI has done a fabulous job in ramping up online transactions. Given the scale of WhatsApp and that it’s everywhere, we can hopefully bring in new users who have not yet benefited from this transition, from cash to online payments.

Meta wants to take creators to the metaverse to build their business. What is the plan?

We are putting a lot of investment into building the foundational software and hardware blocks for a more immersive version of the internet. This is a bet over the next 10 years. The interesting part is, even though that will evolve over the next 10 years, we see some of the dots connecting what is happening now and the future economy, because it will be created by the creators.

The run-ins with the government have been increasing. What are your thoughts on the recent proposed Telecom bill?

I think we have a very constructive engagement with all stakeholders, including the government. And we have been quite vocal about the fact that we share the ambition to create a safe and open internet. I think it's in the interest for all actors on the internet to be responsible and accountable.