Instagram Wants to Expand ‘Your Algorithm’ That Curates Your Feed

Instagram nowadays is a kaleidoscope of features and tools, many of them taken from rival platforms that Meta was keen to see off.

Despite being widely bemoaned, Instagram remains vital to the modern photographer as a type of business card that allows them to showcase to the world — and potential clients — what it is they can do.

But growing on the platform has become increasingly complicated and video-dominated. TechCrunch reports that the Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, has showcased new ways to use a feature called “Your Algorithm” that allows users to shape what content is recommended to them.

“We want to evolve Your Algorithm from a setting to something that feels central to your experience on Instagram,” Mosseri says. “Some of this is testing now, some is coming soon, some might not work.”

Mosseri explains that the company wants users to be able to access the feature “right from the home screen” and be able to tune it in real time.

The examples Mosseri gives did not work in PetaPixel’s test. However, I was able to find Your Algorithm by heading to the “Search” button and finding it in the top right-hand corner.

I found Your Algorithm by pressing the slider button with the love hearts in the top right-hand corner.

In fairness, Your Algorithm is undergoing testing right now. Mosseri shows examples where users can access it by pulling down on the top of their Instagram feed, or by showing the button beneath a Reel.

“Jesus Christ, just let people see the content of accounts they’re willingly following,” writes one of the top comments beneath Mosseri’s post. It’s a popular sentiment, but not one that Instagram is listening to.

Instagram Plus

Meanwhile, Instagram Plus launched this month, which Meta says is a “new subscription designed to give you more of what you love.”

The list of features is a little underwhelming. But some photographers might be interested in the ability to pin up to six posts on a profile or creating unlimited audience lists.

Some of the other features have been criticized for encouraging problematic behavior. An entertaining article in The Atlantic written by Annie Joy Williams, highlights how one Plus feature that lets users “preview stories without appearing on the viewer list” is a gift to “hidden lurkers.”

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.

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