Instagram is implementing a series of important changes in its content recommendation algorithm, focusing on original material and giving greater visibility to smaller accounts. These changes, announced by the director of the social network, Adam Mosseri, are mainly aimed at aggregators: accounts that repost content from other users without contributing significantly.
Instagram aims to address this issue by removing reshared content from recommendations across the platform, particularly affecting accounts that share other people’s content more than 10 times in 30 days.
With the new algorithm, Instagram will replace shared content with the original creator’s post in recommendations, as long as the original content is relatively new and its identity is verified through visual and auditory signals. Creators will receive a notification when their content replaces shared posts in recommendations. Additionally, Instagram will start adding tags that credit the original creator in shared posts, although these can be removed by both parties.
The penalty is not limited to accounts that repost memes or images, but also extends to all those who regularly share infographics or other forms of content without authorization. With this measure, Instagram seeks to discourage this common practice on the platform, while providing original creators with greater visibility and recognition.
In order to provide equal opportunities to smaller accounts, Instagram also plans to update its recommendation system with a new ranking algorithm that will show their content to a reduced audience and, if successful, gradually increase its visibility. This approach aims to counter the dominance of accounts with a higher number of followers in recommendations, opening the door for lesser-known creators to also go viral. Instagram states that this change will be implemented in the coming months.
