Instagram’s feeds have been a mess for some time, but in a new announcement, the app is getting big changes to how the algorithm recommends content to users.
First seen on The Verge, the most significant change is targeted directly at content aggregators — accounts that steal other people’s Tweets, Reels, posts, threads, etc. and repost them. In general, many of these accounts either cut off videos before the important part or do not credit the original creators. Occasionally these accounts will tag the originals in the caption.
In an Instagram post, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, stated, “We need to do more to drive reach to creators who make original content.”
As much as aggregators clogging our feeds annoy us, it appears that Instagram also doesn’t like these kinds of accounts. In his post, Mosseri said that Instagram will remove aggregators from recommendations.
“To aggregator accounts out there: I recommend looking for ways to make content your own so you can continue to be recommended to people who don’t follow you.”
Specifically, aggregator accounts that share other people’s content more than 10 times in a month will be pushed out of the recommendations algorithm. The most interesting part of the announcement is that Instagram won’t just be cutting off aggregators. Mosseri claims that the updated system will look for the original creators if they can and recommend those posts instead of ones from aggregators. He does admit that many posts might not work for this because they are rips from other platforms.
For those who enjoy following aggregator accounts, their posts will show up in your feed. You just won’t see as many repost accounts recommended to you in your feed or the explore tab.
It’ll be interesting to see how this system update actually affects things. Beyond aggregators, Instagram is clogged with fan pages, Pinterest-esque inspiration accounts and organizations that repost infographics or news. For the last one, the creation of original graphics and posts might outweigh the reposts.
From The Verge, part of the forthcoming update will also change how Reels rank with the goal of giving smaller accounts more distribution.
The updates to the system won’t go live until the beginning of summer according to Mosseri.
