Instagram is tweaking its ranking algorithm, says original content will get more credit

Instagram says it is modifying its algorithm again, and this time, the company wants to give more prominence to original content. Adam Mosseri, Instagram’s head, made the announcement in a video on Twitter, noting the update was aligned with Meta’s broader goal of adding value creators.

It’s all about “originality,” Mosseri remarked in his video. “If you produce something from scratch, you should get more credit than if you are resharing something that you obtained from someone else,” says Mosseri.

The Instagram head further explained that the system will now be less likely to encourage reposts of existing Reels. If an account is aggregating and republishing content from other users, the company will be less inclined to promote it to its users. Because of this, the social networking platform wants to make sure that creators get credit, dissemination, growth, and monetary reward for their work.

Mosseri highlighted in response to a tweet from social media analyst Matt Navarra that while Instagram already prioritises original content, it is moving more toward this path and will continue to do so.

After being questioned about how Instagram can determine who created an image or video, Mosseri responded in a tweet that the system “can’t know for sure.” Specifically, he explained that the company develops classifiers to forecast the likelihood that content will be original. The company also considers details such as “who is in the video” and “whether or not the app has already watched the same video”.

Many popular meme accounts on Instagram repost other users’ reels, garnering a lot of engagement and garnering thousands or even millions of views as a result. As a result of this new modification, these accounts may lose their present reach as the platform focuses on promoting the original author.

In addition to the news about promoting original content, Mosseri discussed two new product launches: product tagging and enhanced tagging. The company announced earlier this week that product tagging, which was previously exclusively available to artists and marketers, is now available to all U.S. users who have public profiles on the social media platform.

All users in the United States will now be able to tag products from businesses that have enabled Instagram Shopping. According to the company, the extension would make it easier for users to find things from their followers and for businesses to build their following on the site.

Instagram debuted updated tags earlier this month. They seek to simplify the process by which creators gain credit for their work. According to Instagram, the upgraded tags enable users to share and view the unique contribution of a creator to a photo or video post.

Within the tag, the creator’s self-defined profile category describing their role will be displayed. Creators will be able to tag other creatives in their postings in order to increase exposure for their work.