Instagram algorithm has made quite a few changes in the past year. Many creators and organizations noticed the consequences of these changes: reach and followers decreased significantly in many cases. The new Instagram algorithm requires a different content strategy to increase reach and followers. BuyIGFollowersMalaysia.com offer multiple social media services mainly Instagram according to Instagram algorithm safe and secure packages at cheap rates.

In this blog I discuss the changes to the Instagram algorithm over the past year and where Instagram is heading.

How exactly does the algorithm work?

Before we dive into the changes of the past year, let me briefly explain how the algorithm has been working since 2016, and still works today.

The ranking feed

In the past, your Instagram consisted of a series of photos of your friends in chronological order. In 2016, the platform introduced the concept of ‘ranking’. The goal of a ranking feed is to show you what you are most interested in. “Making the most of your time on Instagram”, according to Adam Mosseri (CEO of Instagram).

How does ranking work?

A ranking feed consists of several processes. First, Instagram looks at what content is available. What has been uploaded and what haven’t you seen yet?

Then the platform collects all the information they have about the post, the author, and about you. Based on this information, a score is given to how interested you would be in certain content. The most important signals here are:

– The content itself (topic, type of post, number of views and likes)

– The author (is it a friend of yours and do they post often)

– Your activity on Instagram (do you watch a lot of videos, do you like photos)

– The history of interaction between you and the author (do you like photos of the author or do you ever leave a comment).

Instagram also tries to predict what you will do with the content you see. Namely whether you will: spend time on the post, like it, post a comment, save the post or click on the author’s profile. Based on this final score, the content is shown in a certain order. And that is your feed.

The explore function of Instagram

In addition to your feed, there is also the option ‘explore’. When you are here, you will see content from accounts that you often do not (yet) follow, but that Instagram thinks you will be interested in. This is based on your activity in the past and mainly concerns the posts that you have liked. Instagram then searches for other users who have done this as well. In fact, ‘similar users’ to yourself. The platform then looks for content that your similar users like even more and shows this to you in explore.

The Future of Instagram and the Algorithm

Instagram has been more than just a photo sharing app for a few years now. In July 2022, Adam Mosseri explained that video is the future of Instagram. He even tested a full screen user face for a small group of users. I was one of those unlucky users who got this user face and I wasn’t exactly happy about it, no.

Reels get priority

Because video is the future according to Instagram, reels are given a lot of priority. Reels are mobile first videos. In a vertical format. Good to know: the same kind of ranking is applied to reels as with explore. So you don’t necessarily see reels of people you follow first.

What should you pay attention to with Reels?

Okay, so you have to create Reels to reach a lot of people via Instagram. But what should you pay attention to? In this explanation video on YouTube, three metrics are named that are important for Reels.

1. Views

This means how often a Reel is viewed.

2. Watch time

Watch time is how long users watch your video.

3. Average-View-Duration (AVD)

This is the total watch time divided by the total number of times your video was played (including replays). It is a metric to find out how much of your video a user watches before scrolling to the next one. A 100% AVD means they watched the entire video.

Currently, Instagram prefers shorter videos, as they often have a higher watch time and AVD. This could change in the future.

For photos: use of carousels

Although Reels are definitely preferred, this does not mean that you cannot post photos at all. If you do post photos on Instagram, make sure to use multiple photos in a post, aka a carousel. Carousels score better than single image posts because the engagement rate is higher.

Users tend to look at a carousel post longer than a single photo, and Instagram also prioritizes this more.

Competition with TikTok

That Instagram wants to compete with TikTok is pretty clear. But whether it will be successful, there is something to be said for that. For a long time this year, a large part of the Instagram Reels even consisted of TikTok videos that were also simply posted on Instagram. Because these videos contain the TikTok logo, Instagram now ensures that they have less reach and priority is given to original Instagram Reels.

But there is still dissatisfaction among users. If Instagram really starts to resemble TikTok, as it clearly did in the temporary test, the question is whether the platform will not lose a lot of users. Because why do you need two of the same apps?

Currently, Instagram with 2.4 billion users is more popular than TikTok with 1.4 billion users, but TikTok has more new installs per month than Instagram.

One thing is for sure, Instagram is definitely taking a path that is far from its origins, namely: seeing nice pictures of your friends.

Conclusion

The Instagram algorithm is always changing and changing unexpectedly. For creators and organizations it is sometimes difficult to respond to this, especially because they sometimes suffer a lot from the consequences of the changes in the algorithm. According to Instagram, videos are the future, which is why Reels are given priority. In addition, it is recommended to use carousels when posting photos. Carousels score better than single image posts, because the engagement rate is higher. By staying informed of the developments of the algorithm, you can best respond to this.