Instagram announced an expansion of its Your Algorithm content recommendation control option, with some users now able to utilize the update within Instagram Explore, in addition to the Reels feed.
Your Algorithm provides a direct input option to help manage the content that users are shown in the app, with simple topic prompts that enable basic guidance of interests in-stream.
Instagram began testing the option for Reels in October, and now it’s giving users expanded input within another content surface.
As explained by Instagram: “Just like on Reels, you can view the topics Instagram thinks you’re into and easily adjust them to see more or less of what you want.”
With this new control option, Instagram users will have more capacity to manage what topics Instagram’s algorithm thinks they’re interested in, which will then enable direct input into content recommendations and display in the Explore feed.
In addition, any changes users make in this tool will also expand to Reels.
“Type in the topics you want to see more or less of, and your Reels and Explore content will reflect your choices,” Instagram said. “It’s all one system, so changes you make in Reels or Explore carry across both. One algorithm, reflected across surfaces.”
Users can also share their interests in a Story to let others know about the update and what their preferences are. The new Explore controls will also enable users to add or remove interests directly from the topic pills at the top of the page, providing a more direct access point to the topic controls.
It’s an interesting option, which will give users more control over what they’re shown in-stream.
If, of course, they actually use it.
Social media users often complain about a lack of algorithm control, how they’d prefer to have a chronological feed and how they want more ways to control their experience. In reality, when they have these things, the majority of people don’t use them.
We’ve seen this time and time again, from security changes and data protections to algorithm controls and feed preferences. People demand these as options so that they can feel more in control of their experience. But for the most part, these features act as a reassurance, not as a real control and manual input option.
Most people just want to log on and start scrolling. The development of engagement-based algorithms have made this even more of a factor, with the system showing them more of what they’re interested in, without people even needing to follow accounts.
As such, while there is a demand for manual controls like this, the reality is that few people end up using them.
Maybe this one will be different because it’s so present in a key engagement surface on IG. But with artificial intelligence-powered recommendations driving all of the gains in user engagement in Meta’s apps, it’s unlikely the company would be handing over this level of control to users if it felt that they were actually going to implement changes at scale.
But it does provide another option, and that could be a valuable step for Meta to provide some reassurance.
Instagram said it’s rolling out Your Algorithm in Explore to all English-language users.
