How “The Instagram Algorithm” Works

We hear so much about social media algorithms and how important they are to each platform, but what ACTUALLY goes on behind the scenes at companies like Facebook and Instagram?



Recently, Instagram released a blog post giving us a better look at how their technology works and how it affects individual user experiences across the app.

We’ll recap some of Instagram’s explanations below so that you can understand the platform better!

Instagram Uses More Than One Algorithm

Often, you’ll hear people refer to the technology and processes behind the scenes of social platforms by using a blanket term like “The Algorithm.” However, this is a misnomer since Instagram uses a combination of algorithms, classifiers and processes that each have their own purpose in delivering experiences on the app.

Historically, Instagram used to be a platform that only had a single stream of photos that posted on each user’s profile in chronological order. As time went on, Instagram evolved and developed a Feed that “ranked” posts instead of just showing them in the order they were posted.

Now, each individual aspect of Instagram’s app has their own processes and algorithms that determine what people see. Depending on which part of the app people are using, Instagram ranks thinks differently. For example, people want to see close friends in Stories, but in the Explore section people are more likely to want to find something fresh, so the algorithms behind each section have to be different.

What’s Behind “Feed” And “Stories” Ranking?

The Instagram Feed is probably what you’re most familiar with on the social media platform. The Feed is where users post photos and other users see them. Stories is similar, but instead of being in the feed, they have their own section on user profiles and expire after a given amount of time. These two places in the Instagram app are where people want to see content from their friends and family, so in these sections the algorithm breaks down into the following steps.

Step 1: Instagram starts by showing recent posts shared by people you follow

Step 2: Next, they use all the background information they have about what was posted, the people who created the post, and personal preferences you’ve set up on the platform. There are literally thousands of “signals” Instagram uses to rank Feed and Stories, but here are a few in order of importance.

• Post information?—?how popular a post is, when content is posted, video length, location data
• Information about person who posted?—?how many times you or others have interacted with person in the past few weeks
• Your personal activity?—?how many or which posts you’ve liked in the past
• Your interaction history with other users?—?whether you comment on other’s posts or if you’ve interacted with users previously

Step 3: Instagram predicts how likely you are to interact with certain posts. Taking all the above information, Instagram makes its best guess at how likely you are to take an action on a post. The more Instagram expects you to interact with a post, the higher up you’ll see a post.

What’s Behind “Explore” Ranking?

The Explore section of Instagram differs from the Feed and Stories sections because Explore is explicitly designed to help you discover new people and content. The process for ranking the Explore section is similar, but differs in that Instagram prioritizes posts and content outside your connected network of friends.

Here are the steps Instagram takes to rank the Explore section:

Step 1: Instagram defines set posts to rank based on what posts you’ve liked, saved or commented on in the past. For example, let’s say you recently liked a bunch of photos that Sammy Hagar posted. Instagram will then gather data on other users who have liked Sammy Hagar’s photos and see what those people are interested in. People who like Sammy Hagar will also most likely be interacting with content on the Van Halen Instagram page. So, Instagram may show you a photo that Van Halen recently posted.

Step 2: Now that Instagram has found a group of photos and videos that it thinks you’re more likely to be interested in, those get ranked similarly to the Feed and Stories ranking. They use “signals” again in this order of importance:

• Post information?—?how popular a post seems to be based on signals like how quickly people are liking, commenting and saving posts
• Interaction history with the person who posted?—?it’s less likely that you’ll have interacted with these posts since the focus is on finding new content, but if you have, Instagram uses that to see how interested you’ll be in a specific user’s content
• Past user activity?—?what kind of posts you’ve already liked, saved commented on or interacted with from your Explore feed in the past
• Information about person who posted?—?how many times people have interacted with the other user in the past few weeks

What’s Behind “Reels” Ranking?

Reels is like Explore since most of what you see on Reels is from accounts you don’t already follow. The difference is on Reels, Instagram is more focused on what you’ll find entertaining. Using surveys, Instagram can gauge whether a user is going to find content funny or entertaining.

Here are the steps Instagram takes to rank the Reels section:

Step 1: Instagram predicts how likely a user is to watch a reel completely, like it, or go to the audio page

Step 2: Now that Instagram has initial predictions, it uses “signals” again to rank Reels. Here are the signals it uses in order of importance:

• User activity?—?which Reels you’ve already liked or engaged with
• Interaction history with person who posted?—?similar to Explore, you’ve probably never interacted with the person who created the Reel, but if you did, that gives Instagram a sense that you’ll like more of their content
• Information about Reel?—?audio track used, video content based on pixels & frames and popularity
• Information about person who posted?—?popularity of user to help find content from wide arrays of people

A Note On Shadowbanning

Social media users use “Shadowbanning” as a blanket term to describe when they’re unable to do several things on a platform. Since Instagram has never really explained why they take down content, it’s led to a lot of confusion and theories about how they determine what and who to limit.

Instagram is currently working on better in-app notifications so people know why a post was taken down and exploring more ways to inform people when their content or interactions go against platform guidelines.

Hopefully, they’ll be sharing more soon and we’ll be sure to update when they do.

How You Can Influence “The Algorithm”

If you want to have more control over what you do or don’t see on Instagram, you can influence those things by interacting with profiles and posts you want to see. Here are a few more ways you can influence “The Algorithm” in order to see more personalized content you enjoy

• Select “Close Friends”?—?If you use Stories often, you’ll be able to designate certain users as “Close Friends,” which allows you to prioritize those people in Feed and Stories
• Mute profiles you don’t enjoy?—?If you’re seeing a lot of content from users you don’t want to see, you’re able to mute an account if you want to keep following the user without showing their content
• Mark recommended posts as “Not Interested”?—?If you see a recommendation in Explore or Feed, tap the post and select “Not Interested”

Instagram is committing to providing more context on their content ranking system, so when they release more details we will update!

Optimize Social Media provides social media & reputation solutions that evolve with our clients. As social media experts we manage Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yelp, YouTube and Instagram accounts for our clients daily. We help the modern business owner implement a specialized social media strategy so they can make more money in real life. Enjoy our blog.

How “The Instagram Algorithm” Works was originally published in Social Media For Business Owners on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.