Today Instagram Finally Started to Clear Things Up
And I for one am intrigued.
Even if you’re not actively trying to monetize your social media, you’ve probably heard complaints from creators and influencers around the infamous algorithm. Many blame the social platforms themselves for low reach, feeling like they have to create content catered specifically to pleasing the algorithm. And while one perspective commends staying true to yourself even if nobody likes it, I can understand why a full-time creator would be upset having to play along with whatever Instagram decides.
In a blog post released earlier today, Instagram head Adam Mosseri tackled issues I’ve seen creators complaining about for months. “It’s hard to trust what you don’t understand,” Mosseri begins, promising a series of blog posts intended to further explain how Instagram works. Later in the post, he makes clear that Instagram never intends to make people feel confused or victimized by their actions and knows the platform has work to do in improving their transparency.
Mosseri tackles the biggest question head on: what exactly is “the algorithm”? First things first, he says, “Instagram doesn't have one algorithm… we use a variety of algorithms, classifiers, and processes, each with its own purpose.” Subtly defending the collection of personal data, Mosseri explains that Instagram believes personalizing your digital experience will ensure they don’t waste your time. He confirms once and for all that the reason the feed’s no longer chronological is because there’s simply too much content out there for us to see it all — so it has to be edited somehow.
So how does this combination translate to what we see on feeds and stories when we first open the app? Basically, Instagram’s ranking algorithms take information on posts, profiles, and activity history on the app to make an educated guess on what and who’s content you want to see. It’s all extremely personalized. The processes for what shows up on your explore page and in your reels are very similar.
Mosseri also brings up another hot topic in the influencing community, shadowbanning. He explains that Instagram does hear the rumors going around concerning removing content or extreme reduction in reach and faces them head on:
We recognize that we haven’t always done enough to explain why we take down content when we do, what is recommendable and what isn’t, and how Instagram works more broadly. As a result, we understand people are inevitably going to come to their own conclusions about why something happened, and that those conclusions may leave people feeling confused or victimized. That’s never our intention, and we’re working hard on improvements here. We also manage millions of reports a day, which means making a mistake on even a small percentage of those reports affects thousands of people.
Mosseri promises to go more in-depth on why content gets taken down in future blog posts on this topic. He then closes out his article stating Instagram plans to explain themselves across three major areas: providing context for their actions, improving ranking technology, and making fewer mistakes. I hope today marks the beginning of an age of more transparency and communication with Instagram, and it’s nice to see such involvement between platforms and creators. Only time can tell if Mosseri and the rest of the team live up to their promises.
