How does the Instagram algorithm work?

First off, there are multiple algorithms to make IG personalised for each person. So when people talk about ‘the algorithm’, they’re actually referring to multiple algorithms working at the same time. Each one contributes to an overall way for content to be ranked for different people.

Stories
Stories are short-lived content posted within a 24-hour window. When you open Instagram, they look at every Story posted by someone you follow in the last 24 hours and make guesses about how you might interact with that specific content to rank them. Essentially they’re trying to make sure the first one you see is going to be the most interesting to you. This is why every time you open the app you see a different account as the first one on Stories.

The guess Instagram makes is based on the content you might be interested in and what you might do with it (tap to open, reply, or like or send a reaction). To figure out what you might be interested in they use signals you’ve sent based on your overall interaction with that author such as your history of opening their stories, how and whether you interact with their other content, and how close you generally are to them (such as whether you DM each other).

The idea is to connect you with people that you care about and are interested in.

Feed
The feed is made up of single images, carousels (multi-images), and Reels from both people you follow and people you don’t. The content is ranked by Instagram with the things they think you’ll find most interesting at the top and least interesting further down.

How content is ranked is similar to Stories, with the content you’re most likely to like, share, comment, tap on profile picture of the creator, or spend time looking at prioritised. Again they use signals based on your history of interactions such as likes, info about that post such as how popular it is, info about the person who made the post, and how much you interact with that author.

Favourites is a list of accounts curated by you of things you’re super interested in. Adding accounts to ‘Favourites’ can help you tell Instagram a bit more about what you’re interested in. They will then prioritise content from accounts from your ‘Favourites’ in your feed.

It’s all about helping you catch up on the very best of Instagram for you.

Reels
Reels are short videos that either show up in the feed or in the dedicated ‘Reels’ tab. The goal of Reels is to entertain you, so most of the ones you see in the ‘Reels’ tab will be from people you don’t follow.

The things Instagram looks at to prioritise content for you are similar to other content – what you interact with, what other people interact with, and what else those people are interested in. They use a similar pattern based on how likely you are to: watch until the video is over, send it to a friend, or go to the audio page for that Reel. The signals Instagram uses from you are what you’re interested in, reels you watched in the past, information about the reel and author such as how popular it is, and your interaction (if any) with the author in the past.

Reels should always be designed to entertain.

Explore
Your explore page is the main feed you see when you first open the app. Instagram makes recommendations to help you discover new things. These recommendations are based on how likely you are to like, share, and save the post. The signals they use are similar to reels with the number one signal being information about that post based on its popularity. They also look at your history of interactions generally on Instagram, information about the author, and your history of interacting with them.

Shadowbanning
People talk about Shadowbanning a lot and there are tons of misconceptions. Generally when people talk about Shadowbanning, they mean when reach isn’t as high as you think you deserve.

Instagram has confirmed that they do not suppress reach to get accounts to pay for ads. Realistically, it’s in their interest to get you connected to people who are interested in your stuff to keep them on the app.

However, they will reduce reach or remove content if it goes against their community guidelines. You can see the status of your account on your ‘Account Status’ tab by heading to your profile, settings, and then ‘account status’. There you can see if any content has been removed and appeal the decision, your account recommendability status (if your content is eligible to show up), and if your account is eligible to be recommended on ‘search’ and ‘accounts you should follow’. It’s important to keep an eye on your account status if you think you have been shadowbanned.

Best practices
1. Experiment. Every audience is different to figure out what resonates with followers.
2. Check insights. What type of content tends to do well.
3. Collaborate with other creators.
4. Check out ‘account status’ and address issues.
5. Try to create original and engaging content. Looking to favour original creators rather than aggregators.