Instagram explained how news feed generation algorithms work. Previously, the platform has never published such data, and there are many rumors about the social network among marketers. The site also answered the most common of them
Timeline was not more convenient
This is not said by representatives of the social network (and certainly not by users), but by numbers: users missed 70% of all posts, and 50% of friends’ posts, when the issue was formed in the order of publication of the posts.
Now, according to Instagram, users see up to 90% of their friends’ posts. Recall that in recent months, Facebook has paid attention to maintaining contacts between friends and family within the social network.
Top Factors for Instagram Ranking Algorithm
Instagram uses machine learning to analyze your behavior on the social network to create a personalized feed for each user. Even if two people follow the same list of accounts, their newsfeeds will differ depending on interactions with those accounts. You can buy Instagram followers from Goread. Next, let’s take a closer look at what affects the operation of the feed on Instagram.
Interest
Instagram predicts whether a post will interest you based on your previous activity with similar content. The similarity of publications is also determined by machine vision.
Relevance
Priority is given to publications made recently.
Relationship
Instagram determines how close you are to the author of a post. Comments under his photos and marks on joint pictures are taken into account.
Three Additional Ranking Factors
Instagram representatives also identified three additional factors that affect the display of posts in the feed.
Frequency
How often you visit Instagram: The algorithm tries to show you the best posts since your last visit.
Number of subscriptions
If you follow a large number of accounts, the algorithm has a wide selection of posts to add to your feed – so you are less likely to see the posts of a particular person.
Behavior
How much time do you spend in the app, and how do you view the content: quickly scroll through the feed or log into your account and see the posts there.
Myths about Instagram algorithms
The Instagram team has debunked well-known user misconceptions about how Instagram works, in particular how the feed is displayed.
1. Instagram has no plans to bring back the timeline. This will complicate the use of the service. However, the company is listening to user dissatisfaction with the current algorithm. Gradually, changes will be made to its work.
2. Posts in the feed are not hidden, but only ranked. If you scroll for a very long time, you will see publications from absolutely all the accounts you follow.
3. The Instagram algorithm doesn’t prioritize video posts over photo posts. It analyzes what content the user watches more often, and it is in his personalized feed that posts with this type of content are more likely to get.
4. Instagram does not rank higher than users who post Stories, Live Streams, or use any other features of the app. It’s a myth that using Stories affects reach.
5. The feed does not get demoted by users who post content too often. But if the posts are published one after another within a small period of time, Instagram will in most cases add posts from other users between them.
6. Account type does not affect reach in any way : switching from a business account to a personal one and vice versa will not give any results.
