Instagram explains how it recommends content for your feed

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Social media platform, Instagram, has revealed how the company recommends content for your home feed. The ranking system which decided what posts show up on your feed has long been a subject of discussion. Now, the Meta-owned social giant has decided to take the mystery away.

In a blog post, head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri breaks down the minutia of the platform's post ranking system.

Mosseri said the platform was doing this because, "there are a lot of misconceptions out there, and we recognize that we can do more to help people, especially creators, understand what we do".

The system doesn't rely on one particular algorithm to decide what posts to promote. Instead, there are a variety of different ones that classify and promote content.

Each section of the platform - Feed, Search, Stories, Explore and Reels use their own specific algorithm, which have been tailored to how people interact with each section of the app.

For example, Mosseri wrote that people tend to look for their closest friends in Stories section first, then move on to Explore for new content. Reels are what people use for entertainment, and the platform tailors each section to user experiences accordingly.

Stories are ranked according to user engagement by how often a user views that creators account, and whether the users share that story among friends via DM or simply leave a like. Instagram will also check whether that account belongs to a friend or family member.

For Reels, the platform studies what an user has engaged with in the past, how many posts they have liked, saved or shared. Even user interactions such as comments play a part in what they will be recommended next.

In the Explore section, posts are ranked on popularity and the platform studies how many times a post has been liked, commented on, saved or shared.

The platform also checks for each individual users interaction history with the account that shared the post to figure out if you would be interested in that account.

To wrap things up, Mosseri said that each user can tailor the feed to their needs by adding liked accounts to their favorites, or even snoozing recommendations completely on your feed for up to 30 days.

Muting accounts you are not interested in will change your home feed, so will unfollowing accounts that you are not interested in.