Instagram Has a Couple of Suggestions for You
Before this year, the only place you’d likely encounter Instagram content that wasn’t created by someone you follow was the world-famous Explore page. However, it wouldn’t be 2020 (the most unpredictable year ever) if that didn’t change. Now, Instagram’s algorithm will generate your feed with content it thinks you’ll like based on other content you’ve liked. The good news is it will only show up after you’ve scrolled and tapped your way through content from the users you already follow, like a roomie or the best-friend-in-my-head celebs you can’t get enough of.
True social media stans are more than familiar with the “You’re All Caught Up!” message that appears after spending more time than you’d like to admit reviewing everything you missed since last opening the app. (Which was probably, like, 10 minutes ago.)
But no more! Thanks to this update, your feed will feel like a never-ending stream of content – even if it’s content from people you don’t know.
This is great news for influencers, content creators, and small business owners who use social media as free advertising. Now more than ever before, your content has the potential to reach people who aren’t even following you yet. Talk about expanding your reach!
In order to make the most of this update, consider taking the steps to completely optimize your Instagram. You spend a lot of time curating your content, so you want to make sure people can actually see it!
So how exactly does Instagram’s algorithm choose which posts will populate where (and when)? It’s not totally clear. Obviously, Instagram’s algorithm is complex – but if it’s based on what you see, we can take some educated guesses as to how it works. Clearly, it prioritizes people you may know (think friends of friends), posts that share tags with either your own posts or posts you’ve interacted with in the past, and of course location.
Worried about seeing content you don’t like? Don’t worry. Just like with the Explore page, or similar to TikTok’s algorithm, you can tap into a post to let the platform know that you don’t want to see content like that again. Happy scrolling!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sophia Pelosi is the Associate Marketing Manager at BlogHer, as well as a contributing author and editor for BlogHer.com. She’s based in New York City, and is passionate about pasta from scratch, daily meditation, the state of Maine, 70s disco fashion and her beagle Lucy. The only commercials she likes are ones that make her laugh or cry, and she didn’t like reading Jane Eyre as much as she thought she would. Follow her on Instagram.
