The IG Algorithm Conundrum

Chronological order left the chat over a year ago and we’ve been left trying to figure out what’s going on. Well, we cracked the code! Let’s get down to why your Instagram feed looks the way that it does.

 

We know that Instagram aims to please, so it only makes sense that the app will display content that it believes you would enjoy the most. How does Instagram make that decision you may ask? Well, that’s based completely on your behaviour. Let’s break it down!

 

Interest:

Instagram curates content for your feed based on your interactions. The more Instagram believes you will enjoy a particular post the higher up on your feed it will appear. Your feed is based on your behavior historically concerning the app, the posts you have liked, shared, saved, and commented on.  

Tip: This is why consistently posting on Instagram matters. The more regular your content is the more your audience has the opportunity to interact with it.

 

Relationship:

Instagram aims to show you posts of your friends, family, and your favourite content creators. To do so it pieces together your interactions from your DMs, the stories you view regularly, and the accounts you have been tagged by. It tries to connect the dots and take a guess at the relationships you have with others and show you content accordingly.

Tip: If your posts drive people to your DM’s Instagram will detect a relationship and work in your favour.

 

Timelines:

The time when the post goes live also plays an important role in what shows up on your feed. The algorithm wants to serve you the latest news so it is wired to prioritise posts that go up while the audience is online.

Tip:  By understanding your audience you will be able to figure out the best time to post in order to get maximum engagement on your post.

 

Frequency:

The frequency with which you use the app also plays a big role. If you spend a lot of time on it then your feed will appear more chronological as Instagram will attempt to show you the latest content since the last time you viewed the page whereas if you rarely use the app it will saturate your feed with the highlights of the day. 

Tip: Here’s where you need to be careful. Frequency can work against you if you have ghost followers (followers who do not interact with your content). If these followers do not interact with your post, Instagram will consider your post lost low-quality content and show it to fewer people. If you ask us, it’s better to have no followers than ghost followers.

Social media is constantly evolving to better suit your needs. Keeping track of the algorithm will ensure that your hard work is not in vain. Now that you know how to finesse Instagram watch your content blow up!