diff --git a/app/javascript/mastodon/features/alt_text_modal/index.tsx b/app/javascript/mastodon/features/alt_text_modal/index.tsx
index 8c5e552eb8..e2d05a99ca 100644
--- a/app/javascript/mastodon/features/alt_text_modal/index.tsx
+++ b/app/javascript/mastodon/features/alt_text_modal/index.tsx
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ import {
   useState,
   useCallback,
   useRef,
-  useEffect,
   useImperativeHandle,
   forwardRef,
 } from 'react';
@@ -13,6 +12,7 @@ import classNames from 'classnames';
 
 import type { List as ImmutableList, Map as ImmutableMap } from 'immutable';
 
+import { useSpring, animated } from '@react-spring/web';
 import Textarea from 'react-textarea-autosize';
 import { length } from 'stringz';
 // eslint-disable-next-line import/extensions
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ import Audio from 'mastodon/features/audio';
 import { CharacterCounter } from 'mastodon/features/compose/components/character_counter';
 import { Tesseract as fetchTesseract } from 'mastodon/features/ui/util/async-components';
 import { Video, getPointerPosition } from 'mastodon/features/video';
-import { me } from 'mastodon/initial_state';
+import { me, reduceMotion } from 'mastodon/initial_state';
 import type { MediaAttachment } from 'mastodon/models/media_attachment';
 import { useAppSelector, useAppDispatch } from 'mastodon/store';
 import { assetHost } from 'mastodon/utils/config';
@@ -105,6 +105,17 @@ const Preview: React.FC<{
   position: FocalPoint;
   onPositionChange: (arg0: FocalPoint) => void;
 }> = ({ mediaId, position, onPositionChange }) => {
+  const draggingRef = useRef<boolean>(false);
+  const nodeRef = useRef<HTMLImageElement | HTMLVideoElement | null>(null);
+
+  const [x, y] = position;
+  const style = useSpring({
+    to: {
+      left: `${x * 100}%`,
+      top: `${y * 100}%`,
+    },
+    immediate: reduceMotion || draggingRef.current,
+  });
   const media = useAppSelector((state) =>
     (
       (state.compose as ImmutableMap<string, unknown>).get(
@@ -117,9 +128,6 @@ const Preview: React.FC<{
   );
 
   const [dragging, setDragging] = useState(false);
-  const [x, y] = position;
-  const nodeRef = useRef<HTMLImageElement | HTMLVideoElement | null>(null);
-  const draggingRef = useRef<boolean>(false);
 
   const setRef = useCallback(
     (e: HTMLImageElement | HTMLVideoElement | null) => {
@@ -134,36 +142,30 @@ const Preview: React.FC<{
         return;
       }
 
+      const handleMouseMove = (e: MouseEvent) => {
+        const { x, y } = getPointerPosition(nodeRef.current, e);
+        draggingRef.current = true; // This will disable the animation for quicker feedback, only do this if the mouse actually moves
+        onPositionChange([x, y]);
+      };
+
+      const handleMouseUp = () => {
+        setDragging(false);
+        draggingRef.current = false;
+        document.removeEventListener('mouseup', handleMouseUp);
+        document.removeEventListener('mousemove', handleMouseMove);
+      };
+
       const { x, y } = getPointerPosition(nodeRef.current, e.nativeEvent);
+
       setDragging(true);
-      draggingRef.current = true;
       onPositionChange([x, y]);
+
+      document.addEventListener('mouseup', handleMouseUp);
+      document.addEventListener('mousemove', handleMouseMove);
     },
     [setDragging, onPositionChange],
   );
 
-  useEffect(() => {
-    const handleMouseUp = () => {
-      setDragging(false);
-      draggingRef.current = false;
-    };
-
-    const handleMouseMove = (e: MouseEvent) => {
-      if (draggingRef.current) {
-        const { x, y } = getPointerPosition(nodeRef.current, e);
-        onPositionChange([x, y]);
-      }
-    };
-
-    document.addEventListener('mouseup', handleMouseUp);
-    document.addEventListener('mousemove', handleMouseMove);
-
-    return () => {
-      document.removeEventListener('mouseup', handleMouseUp);
-      document.removeEventListener('mousemove', handleMouseMove);
-    };
-  }, [setDragging, onPositionChange]);
-
   if (!media) {
     return null;
   }
@@ -179,10 +181,7 @@ const Preview: React.FC<{
           role='presentation'
           onMouseDown={handleMouseDown}
         />
-        <div
-          className='focal-point__reticle'
-          style={{ top: `${y * 100}%`, left: `${x * 100}%` }}
-        />
+        <animated.div className='focal-point__reticle' style={style} />
       </div>
     );
   } else if (media.get('type') === 'gifv') {
@@ -194,10 +193,7 @@ const Preview: React.FC<{
           alt=''
           onMouseDown={handleMouseDown}
         />
-        <div
-          className='focal-point__reticle'
-          style={{ top: `${y * 100}%`, left: `${x * 100}%` }}
-        />
+        <animated.div className='focal-point__reticle' style={style} />
       </div>
     );
   } else if (media.get('type') === 'video') {