Start Over with an Instagram Algorithm Reset

Sometimes it feels like the algorithm is way off base – or too close for comfort.

A white square with a blue Meta logo on it. Photo by Dima Solomin

Depending on where you stand, starting over with your favorite social media platform might just be the way to transform a stale experience into a new and exciting one.

At least, one could hope. Perhaps that’s some of the motivation behind Meta’s rollout of a reset feature for Instagram. Giving users a chance to start fresh, Meta is essentially opening the door to entirely new content discovery possibilities that would otherwise have been missed because they didn’t fit within your user demographic.

And we think that might be a good thing in general. Remember the days when the Internet wasn’t customized to your tastes?

Unlike most new features, this one will be global and somewhat immediate which hints at the confidence Meta has in the feature.

According to a blog post discussing this new feature, Meta writes: “For example, people can tell us they like the content recommended in their Explore page by tapping the three dots in the corner of the post and selecting “Interested.” We recently announced a new way for teens in the US, UK, Canada and Australia to choose topics they want to see more of – everything from books and travel to cooking and sports. We also offer people ways to tell us what they don’t want to see in their recommendations by selecting “Not interested” from the three-dot menu, or using our Hidden Words feature to hide content with certain words or phrases in the caption.”

So, why the sudden push to make this big change? Well, it should come as no shock to any of us in this industry that media moves products. While it is nice to think about all of the quaint ways in which people use social media to connect, it is also a huge advertising and money-making machine. There’s no better way to connect with some consumers than apps like Instagram and TikTok. But that might not be possible if those platforms don’t think you’re relevant to a user base. This might give that content a chance to break through.

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