Instagram Algorithm 2024 Changes — More Original Content, Better for Small Creators

Photo Credit: Instagram

Instagram is making big changes in the way its algorithm recommends content in 2024, with a focus on original content and smaller accounts.The company announced some major updates to its system in a blog post on Tuesday (April 30). Instagram’s updated algorithm will prioritize original content rather than aggregators, with increased distribution for smaller accounts.

Acknowledging a longstanding problem with aggregators (accounts that post other users’ videos and photos by taking a screenshot or downloading them and reposting them), Instagram will begin removing reposted content from recommendations.

Rather than just cutting back on the amount of reposted content that makes it into user recommendations, Instagram is going even further by replacing the reposted content with the original creator’s post in recommendations. Creators will get a notification when their original content replaces a repost for recommendation on the platform.

Don’t worry — if you actively follow an aggregation account, you’ll still see their reposted content on their profile or in your feed; the new changes only apply to recommendations. But aggregation accounts that are deemed serial reposters, or those that share content they didn’t “create or enhance in a material way” more than 10 times in 30 days, will not appear in users Explore page or main feed recommendations at all.

Those affected can be eligible for recommendations again 30 days after the last time they reposted “unoriginal content.” According to Instagram, these parameters won’t affect “a set of publishers” identified by the company with licensing agreements or specific resharing permissions from content creators.

Further, Instagram will begin adding a label crediting the original creator on reposts, with both the original creator and the account reposting the content able to remove that label.The platform’s recommendation system will also be updated to “give all creators an equal chance of breaking through” with a new ranking algorithm in 2024.

“Previously, in surfaces with recommended content, reels were ranked primarily based on how an account’s followers engaged with them,” wrote Instagram in its blog post. “This meant that accounts with the largest followings often saw the most reach.”

To give smaller accounts an equal chance at reaching a wide audience, Instagram’s new system will show a piece of content to a “small audience” that may be interested in it, whether they follow the creator or not. The top performing Reels in that group will then be shown to a wider audience, with the process repeating itself.

In theory, this could enable Instagram to foster an “anyone can go viral” platform, something at which TikTok and its algorithms excel, and an alchemy its competitors are eager to duplicate.

Instagram’s new algorithm changes will roll out over the next few months.