The short answer
Instagram's head, Adam Mosseri, put it plainly: “Instagram doesn't have a singular algorithm that oversees what people do and don't see on the app.” Each part of the app predicts how likely you are to do something with a post, such as watch it, like it, share it or skip it, and shows first what it predicts you'll care about most.
In January 2025 Mosseri named the three signals that matter most for ranking: watch time, likes and sends. He added that likes count slightly more for people who already follow you, and sends count slightly more for people who don't. He did not name one of the three as the winner, so be wary of guides that do.
Where this guide's facts come from
Most “Instagram algorithm” articles copy each other, and some invent numbers. This one uses only Instagram's and Meta's own words: Meta's Transparency Center system cards, which list what each part of Instagram predicts and show the date each card was last updated, plus Instagram's own blog posts and Mosseri's statements. Meta notes that the signals on its cards are examples and that the models change often, so treat them as a guide to what matters, not a complete formula.
Feed: posts from accounts you follow
Meta's Instagram Feed card (updated June 29, 2026) says the system first gathers posts from accounts you follow, removes anything against the rules, then scores each post. Among the predictions it lists are how likely you are to enjoy a post, based on whether you take an action “such as liking, commenting or resharing” and how much time you spend on it, and “how likely you are to share a post with someone in a direct message”. The card also lists predictions for swiping through a whole carousel, turning the sound on, and spending time on the author's profile.
In 2023 Mosseri ranked Feed's inputs “roughly in order of importance”: your activity, information about the post, information about the person who posted, and your history of interacting with them.
Suggested posts in Feed
Posts from accounts you don't follow have their own Feed Recommendations card (updated June 29, 2026). One prediction stands out for 2026: “How informative a post is”, whose only listed signal is “purely generated by LLM to assess the post's content quality”. In other words, an AI model reads your post and judges how useful it is. Other predictions include tapping Interested, opening the author's profile, commenting and turning audio on.
Stories
Stories favour closeness. The Instagram Stories card (updated September 18, 2025) lists predictions such as “How likely it is that you and the story's author are family or good friends”, the likelihood of replying to a story, sending a like, tapping into the author's profile, and swiping to the next story or exiting. Replies to polls, sliders and questions count too. Mosseri's 2023 list for Stories: viewing history, engagement history and closeness.
Reels
The Reels Chaining card (updated November 11, 2025) covers the reels you see one after another. It says the system narrows candidates to about 100 reels before ranking them, and lists predictions including:
- “How likely you are to watch more of a reel than 95% of users who watched reels of the same length”
- “How likely you are to watch less than three seconds of a reel” (the skip)
- How likely you are to reshare a reel, or share it off Instagram
- How likely you are to follow the author, comment, or use the reel's audio in a reel of your own
Explore
Explore is mostly content from accounts you don't follow, so popularity matters more here than in Feed or Stories, Mosseri wrote in 2023. The Explore card (updated June 22, 2026) lists predictions such as following the author, watching more than 95% of a video, spending more than five seconds on a post, resharing or saving it, and clicking “Not Interested”.
Search
The Instagram Search card (updated June 23, 2026) predicts how likely you are to click an account as you type, using signals such as how closely your search matches the account's username or display name. For posts and reels in results it looks at how many people liked or saved them, or visited the profile from them. A clear name and a username people would actually type both help.
The three signals Mosseri named
In the first video of his 2025 series, as quoted word for word by Social Media Today on January 22, 2025, Mosseri said: “The top three signals that matter most for ranking are watch time, likes and sends.” He told creators to watch average watch time, likes per reach and sends per reach in their insights, and added: “Likes are slightly more important for connected content, and sends are slightly more important for unconnected content.”
Connected content means posts shown to your followers; unconnected means posts recommended to people who don't follow you. So if you want new followers, a post people send to friends usually travels further than one they only like.
Original content beats reposts
Instagram's creators blog (April 30, 2024) says that when it finds a copy, “the original content will directly replace the copied version in recommendations”, with a label linking to the original creator. Accounts that keep posting other people's work without changing it in a meaningful way can become “ineligible for recommendations across Instagram”. Turning a clip into a meme, adding your own voiceover or reacting to it counts as a real change.
Mosseri has repeated the point since: in January 2025 he said Instagram would reward creative work “by focusing ranking on things like originality”.
What keeps a post out of recommendations
Some posts are allowed on Instagram but not recommended to people who don't follow you. Mosseri's 2023 explainer gives examples such as content showing violence and content showing “certain regulated products, such as tobacco, vaping products, or pharmaceutical drugs”. If an account repeatedly posts such content, “none of their posts will be eligible for recommendation for a period of time”.
To check where you stand, open Account Status in your Instagram settings; Instagram calls it “the best way to understand if your account and content is eligible to be recommended”.
Test a reel with people who don't follow you
Trial reels, announced by Meta on December 10, 2024, are shown to non-followers first; only you can see that a reel is a trial. You can choose to share it to your followers automatically “if we determine it's performing well based on the views it receives within the first 72 hours.” It's a low-risk way to try a new style without filling your followers' feeds.
How to change what Instagram shows you
- Your Algorithm. Type topics you want more or less of, and see a summary of what Instagram thinks you like. Launched on Reels in December 2025, extended to Explore in April 2026 and to one shared setting for Feed, Reels and Explore in June 2026.
- Not interested. On a reel or suggested post, choose Not interested in the three-dot menu; Meta says the system will try to filter out similar content.
- Reset suggestions. Clear your recommended content across Explore, Reels and Feed and start fresh.
- Following feed. Switch Feed to only accounts you follow, newest first.
What to do this week
Then measure. In Instagram Insights, check average watch time, likes per reach and sends per reach for each post, the same three numbers Mosseri named. PersonaXpand shows your best times to post and answers comments in your own voice, so the replies that help ranking happen even when you're busy.
| What Instagram rewards | What to do |
|---|---|
| Watch time and the skip | Show the point in the first second, cut slow intros, and keep reels as short as the idea needs |
| Sends | Make posts worth forwarding: a tip, a list, a local recommendation, something to plan with a friend |
| Likes and comments from followers | Ask a real question and answer the comments quickly |
| Originality | Post your own photos and clips, without other apps' watermarks; credit and transform anything you reuse |
| Closeness in Stories | Use polls, questions and replies so followers interact, not just watch |
| Search | Use the name people search for in your display name and a clear username |
Based on Meta's system cards and Instagram's own posts, read November 7, 2026.