Instagram launches Your Algorithm feature, giving users control over their Reels recommendations

Instagram's new 'Your Algorithm' tool gives you more control over the Reels you see | TechCrunch

Instagram is introducing a new tool that lets you see and control your algorithm, starting with Reels, the company announced on Wednesday. The new tool, called "Your Algorithm," lets you view the topics that shape your Reels recommendations and customize them to better fit your interests. When you're watching Reels, you'll see an icon in the upper right corner that looks like two lines with hearts. Tapping on that will open "Your Algorithm." You will then see what topics Instagram thinks you care about the most. Instagram says your list of interests is determined by your activity and summarized by AI. For example, you might see a description that reads: "Lately you've been into creativity, sports hype, fitness motivation, and skateboarding." You can choose to share this description to your Story, so your followers can see what you're into, kind of like you do with your Spotify Wrapped results. Underneath the summary, you will see the list of topics that Instagram thinks you're interested in. You can select which topics you want to see more or less of, and your recommendations will adapt accordingly. Plus, if you're interested in a topic that isn't listed, you can type it in to add it to your list of interests. The move follows TikTok's rollout of its "Manage Topics" feature last year, which allows users to take greater control over what they see on their For You feed. Similar to Instagram's new feature, TikTok lets you tailor your feed to show more or less of certain topics. However, unlike TikTok, which only displays around a dozen generic topic categories, Instagram's list is personalized to you and lets you add additional topics. The new Instagram tool is available starting Wednesday in the U.S. and will roll out globally in English soon. In the future, people will be able to use the Your Algorithm tool to personalize their Explore feed, Instagram says. The company plans to bring the tool to more places in the app as well.

Instagram will let you control which topics its algorithm recommends

For the first time, Instagram will start letting you control the topics its algorithm recommends, much as you now can on TikTok. The new feature is starting with the Reels tab but will eventually come to Explore and other areas of the app. Like much of what Meta is doing right now (for better or worse), the "Your Algorithm" feature will be powered by AI. "As your interests evolve over time, we want to give you more meaningful ways to control what you see," Instagram wrote on its blog post. "Using AI, you can now more easily view and personalize the topics that shape your Reels, making recommendations feel even more tailored to you." To see and control the Reels algorithm, tap the icon in the upper right corner (two lines with hearts) to open Your Algorithm. It will show what topics Instagram thinks you're interested in, then you can specify which ones you want to see more or less of and your recommendations will adapt. You can fine tune topics as well: Another AI "feature" that surfaced yesterday on the platform didn't go over well with some users. It was discovered that Instagram was generating sensational and often inaccurate headlines that were likely created by an LLM. And you can expect AI to infiltrate its apps even more down the road, judging by the company's recent acquisitions and priority shifts. In any case, the new Your Algorithm feature for the Reels tab is debuting today in the US only and expanding to other territories in the future.

Instagram now lets you take control of your feed (somewhat) - 9to5Mac

A commonly expressed frustration with algorithmically-driven apps like Instagram is that users have no control over their feeds. They are instead shown what the app thinks they want to see, which is often wildly inaccurate. Meta is promising to provide at least a partial solution to the problem with a new feature called Your Algorithm ... Prior to the update, Instagram's Reels feed worked exactly the same way as TikTok: you got to see what the app thought you would like without any control over it. Wired reports that Meta is now addressing this. Starting today, users will now see a list of what Instagram considers to be your top, recent interests. This kind of peek behind the algorithmic curtain is already uncommon in social media apps, but Meta is taking it a step further by allowing Instagram users to influence their algorithm directly by picking topics they want to see more or less often in Reels. This feature, called "Your Algorithm," [...] is landing on Instagram first for those in the US, with a global rollout for English users in the works. You can't, however, escape the AI altogether. When a user opens the new "Your Algorithm" tab on Instagram, they'll see a brief summary of what they've "been into" while scrolling through Reels. The topics displayed are based on recent user activity, and the summaries are made using generative AI. Meta's examples of topics that users could add with the new feature include "Horror movies," "Chess," and "College football." You also have the option of sharing this summary of what the algorithm has learned about you with your Instagram followers.

Exclusive: Instagram's new feature finally gives you (a little) more control of your algorithm

It's a common experience: you search for white bean soup recipes one time on Instagram, and you are bombarded with white bean soup content on the app for seemingly all eternity. Instagram wants to fix that. Starting today, the company's three billion users can have more control over their algorithm via a "Tune Your Algorithm" feature. It's not quite Bluesky, or the Instagram of yore that only displayed content from accounts users followed, but it does let users select or unsubscribe from different topics. The new feature, which leverages AI, lets users pick topics they want to see more or less of on their explore page. Users will first be able to see a list of suggested topics that their algorithm thinks they are interested in which they can modify. Users can also share their interests to their stories, allowing their followers to see and even replicate some of their feed. "We're always trying to show people the best possible reels for them. After 2020 [we] slowly started figuring out how to do a good job of predicting people's interests and showing them reels they'd be interested in," Tessa Lyons, Instagram's vice president of product, says. "I think we do a pretty good job today, but we don't always get it right, and we know that people's interests change. What we really want to do is give people control over the experience that they have on Instagram."

Instagram gives users control of their algorithms in new feature

Users can note which content they would like to view more frequently. Instagram is handing users some control in deciding what content they see. The social media giant is allowing users to have a say over their algorithm in a new feature launching Wednesday called "Your Algorithm," which is available in the "Reels" tab of the app. "We use AI to summarize your interests based on your activity," Tessa Lyons, vice president of product at Instagram, said in an exclusive interview, which aired on "Good Morning America," breaking the news of the update on Wednesday. "And if we get it wrong, you can remove those interests from your algorithm." Users can navigate to the "Reels" tab and click the new icon, two lines with hearts, in the top right corner of the screen to view a personal dashboard of their top interests based on what content users engage with most frequently. In that dashboard, users can note which content they would like to view more frequently or less frequently. "Being able to tell us that directly so that we can take action in real time, I think, will improve their Instagram experience," said Lyons. "This is one way for you to give us feedback on what you're seeing on reels that can influence the reels you're seeing going forward. And I think people are going to really enjoy having that level of control and customization." Lance Ulanhoff, editor at large for the popular tech news website TechRadar, pointed out the important jump this signifies for user understanding of the algorithm in an interview with "Good Morning America." "Algorithms are sort of at the center of these social media platforms. They're maybe the most important part and maybe the least understood part for most consumers," said Ulanhoff. "So this is a very big step where one company is kind of opening it up and letting people figure out what it really is and what it means to them." A blog post from Instagram summarizing the new feature highlights that the new feature allows users to "see your top interests," "tune your preferences" and "share your algorithm"- the ability to post your interests to your Instagram story for followers to see. "Instagram is leading the way in giving you more control, so your Reels feel relevant and made for you. We're starting with the Reels tab, and are planning to bring this ability to Explore, and more places in the app soon," reads the blog post. "We're still early in this journey, and will keep refining and improving the experience over time."