Instagram algorithm changes

The good, the bad and the 'lets wait and see'..

EDIT - 5 May 2024 - Instagram have qualified that when they talk about small accounts getting a boost they are referring to accounts with less than 10k followers. I will write to address this in the next post here, but for now…

I had a flurry of worried DMs this week after Instagram announced some serious changes to the algorithm and the way it prioritises content. So I thought we should probably take a look at the announcements and pull apart what they might mean for us quiet creatives, and how we navigate this space going forward.

First up. There are four changes that have been announced. Lets break them down.

1. There is a new way what content creators share will be ranked by the algorithm. To quote Meta direct, this change “will give smaller creators greater distribution”.

We have been told by IG/ Meta that this will mean more initial priority (when content gets pushed out) will be given to small accounts, instead of large well established accounts.

They are talking about Reels organic reach here (and it would appear Instagram are absolutely doubling down on Reels being the format of content you need to make to reach new audiences).

The question they haven’t answered though, is what do they consider a small account? Is it 1k, 5k, 10k or 50k and below?

Either way if you have less than 10k followers and you use Reels I feel pretty confident in saying this algorithm update should help you reach new audiences. And for those of us with more than that, it might just be a case of wait and see.

As an aside, I’m about to start a whole new Instagram account myself, so it will be interesting to see if I can feel the reprioritisation over there vs on my ottimade account.

2. Instead of rewarding re-post accounts (which have historically been able to grow very big through the power of community they harness) Instagram will be prioritising original content.

What this means is that if you are creating original content you should have nothing to worry about. Keep making and posting your original content and (in theory) you will be rewarded for doing so. (99% of quiet creatives fall into this category from my experience so I am not stressed about this change).

For the other 1% - If your account strategy is to copy other peoples content and repost it (even with attribution) you will find that content will no longer be recommended anywhere. Which basically means if you never post original content, you will never be recommended by Instagram and your organic reach will effectively drop to zero. Ouch.

3. Instagram is also introducing a change to the algorithm where “original content will directly replace reposted content in places where they recommend content.”

What this means is that when the algorithm finds content that has been reposted, this content will be flagged as such and both the original content creator and the re-poster will be notified and the content will be tagged as such. This tag will be removable (at this stage) by tapping the three dots menu on the content. My expectation is that over time it will not be possible to remove the tag, but that remains to be seen.

4. Content aggregators will be removed from recommendations

In correspondence from Meta this is marked as a whole new change, but really, its basically the same as point 2. If your account is set up to re-share (content aggregate) other peoples content, and you make no new content yourself, your account will not be recommended anywhere. For the vast majority of us this will have no effect on how we turn up and use Instagram, creating and sharing our own original content. For the 1% of quiet creatives who don’t do this, your whole business marketing model might need to change. Assuming you are using Instagram as a marketing arm of your business that is ..

I see drawbacks from this weeks announcements in amongst the potential benefits.

In terms of drawbacks - while it may make sense to penalise accounts that reshare our content (and given how many make money off other peoples original content I am all for there being some kind of course correct here) I also think that there have been benefits to these accounts that we will start to miss out on.

The one that comes most readily to mind is the big accounts that reshare pottery content. They grow/ grew very rapidly by riding the wave of interest in pottery over the last few years. For anyone who has ever been featured on them you will know that if they repost your content with attribution, all of a sudden you can get a huge influx of new followers, and not just any followers. Followers who are interested in pottery specifically which is ideal.

With the new changes, accounts like these are being directly targeted and their reach will be throttled. It remains to be seen how they are going to respond to this major upset in their Instagram strategy going forard.

There are also smaller accounts that reshare content not in order to monetise them (like the big content aggregators do) but in order to bring community together. In the quiet creatives space this mostly shows up in terms of accounts which reshare content with a common aesthetic or theme. These accounts help us find other people who share in our aesthetic sensibilities.

So, given the changes, I expect it will become harder for some of us to be found and followed/ or find and nurture community as easily as we have in the past. Which of course is an unfortunate and frustrating thing.

In terms of the ‘benefit’ of small creators being prioritised by the algorithm?

Obviously for any of us who have worked hard at various stages over the years and now have comfortable followings in the tens of thousands, the announcement about smaller creators is a bit disconcerting.

My advice here is that if you want your content to continue to be seen, you need to continue to play the game and play it well.

Make Reels to find new audiences and be recommended by the algorithm. Share stills and carousels to nurture your current audience.

And remember that the true power of social media is in being social.

So often people complain that they never see the accounts of those that they follow anymore.

But here’s the thing. Whatever you engage with is what the algorithm will double down on sending your way. And if you don’t engage with content (so easy to do when you’re on an aimless scroll!) that tells the algorithm you aren’t interested as well! If you scroll past something without even stopping, the algorithm is unlikely to show you something from that account again.

So while it is harder to be active on Instagram than to passively consume Stories or just scroll through your feed, I highly recommend you spend some time every single time you are on Instagram opening your Following feed and liking, commenting, saving and sharing posts from those people you follow.

It will help strengthen your community.

It will show the algorithm what you really want to see.

And as an added benefit, you will boost the visibility of those small, quiet creative accounts for whom this platform has come to mean so much.

How’re you feeling about the changes announced this week?

X Ilona