Instagram is the third most popular social media platform on the planet. It has an estimated 2 billion monthly active users. Meta, the parent company who now owns Instagram, are always looking for new ways to enhance the user experience. Some of their updates are rolled out to massive applause. While others are often criticized until Meta changes things back to the way it was.
But this latest update has split the public opinion neatly down the middle. Meta is now allowing users to completely reset their content suggestion algorithm on Instagram. This is a feature that users of nearly every social media platform have been crying out for. But what exactly is an algorithm reset? How does it work? And what does it mean for influencers, content creators, and normal users?
Algorithm Reset
You will likely have heard a lot of talk about social media algorithms in recent years. People love to joke about how they just let the algorithm decide what they like and don’t like. But there is a grain of truth to this. Social media algorithms use complex equations based around your viewing habits and personal information to curate a content selection for you.
It is the same principle that leads to those adverts on your browser showing you something you were talking about just a day ago. The reality is that you were likely already viewing something tangentially related to said product. And the algorithm decided to show it to you now. On social media this happens in the form of similar content to what you have already been viewing.
There are a few ways Instagram’s algorithm determines what content you should see. The first, and most powerful, is your liking habits. Every time you like a post, Instagram is more likely to show you similar content. But the issue here is that it slowly creates a feedback loop. Because you will then like the same content over and over again. And it will reinforce the algorithm’s idea that you want to keep seeing this type of content.
The algorithm also takes into account content you have been sent by your friends. It also records how long you spend viewing specific content too. If you were scrolling through posts at a rapid pace but slow down to view a particular post. The algorithm will record that as a sign of approval. But this aspect of the algorithm has come under fire in recent years. There are many reasons someone might have to pause their scrolling on a particular post. And it is, more often than not, nothing to do with that user’s interest.
This new feature would allow users to completely clear their suggested content algorithm. Meaning they wouldn’t see content based on their past viewing habits. The feature doesn’t require any advanced technical knowledge either. It is simply a new option that can be triggered whenever a user desires.
The Impact
The biggest advantage to this feature is that a lot of people’s tastes and preferences change as they grow older. Yet they are forced to see content that likely no longer appeals to them. This feature will allow users to begin curating their suggested content from scratch. Allowing for a better user experience for everyone on Instagram.
This is also a huge plus for influencers and content creators. Up until now they had to battle against the algorithm to get their content seen. Relying on buying automatic likes for Instagram and additional followers. Which is a useful tool to be sure. But now these services will go further as their content won’t get lost against the suggestions algorithm.
If people can better curate their suggested content then it will be easier for niche content creators to find their audience. This will make the platform more user friendly for influencers and should, in turn, lead more people to start using Instagram as their primary content creation platform as opposed to TikTok. While Instagram is still more popular than TikTok at the moment, experts think that TikTok was on track to overtake it within a few years.
But it isn’t all good news. Some content creators are speaking out against this new feature. There are thousands of accounts that rely on the suggested content algorithm to spread their posts across Instagram. Primarily this is meme accounts. But some of the biggest influencers draw in a lot of their new followers through the algorithm.
In the end it is all about how the general users will respond. And the consensus there is majority positive. People have grown weary with how intrusive social media algorithms are these days. Harvesting as much data as they can to tailor content to each individual. But often falling short of the mark. This is partly due to how new this technology still is in the grand scheme of things.
