Written on November 13, 2018

Instagram’s new algorithm has arrived and they are opening up to explain just how the algorithm chooses what content (photos or videos) show up in your feed. Essentially, your Instagram Feed is Personalized to You and Based on What You Like.

Your Instagram feed isn’t just based on who you follow, it’s also based on who and what you like. With that in mind, the Instagram algorithm tries to predict what photos and videos are the most important to you, and uses three main factors to determine this: interest, timeliness, and relationship.

Important Factors to consider for the Instagram Algorithm:

#1 Interest: When users sign into Instagram, they want to see content that matters to them. Instagram takes this into account and prioritizes content from accounts that you like. The algorithm essentially takes into past behaviour on similar contents to bring this time of content to your attention.

#2 Timeliness: Instagram also prioritizes bringing you fresh and new content. What this means is that recent content will be given more value compared to older “outdated” content.

#3 Relationship: Lastly, Instagram prioritizes accounts that you are consistently engaging with. Whether it’s a comment, like, or are tagged in photos with them, Instagram will take this into account and place the account in your “friends and family” category. Posts made by these accounts will be prioritized in your feeds and vice-versa.

Other factors that influence the new Instagram Algorithm include frequency (how often you open the app), following (how many accounts you follow on the Instagram app), and usage (the total amount of time you spend on the app).

Now that you know how Instagram’s new algorithm works, you can utilize it to serve your interests, whether it be for personal or business purposes.