How Does Instagram’s Algorithm Work? - All You Need to Know About Ranking Factors in Feed and Stories

For brands and creators alike, Instagram has become one of the most powerful platforms for engaging with audiences and growing sizable followings. Yet, while it is certainly easy to get started with Instagram and create posts, upload photos, and share videos, growing a following can still be quite tricky.

Instagram has so many great creators and brands creating high-quality content these days, so finding a way to stand out means that accounts need to have a deep understanding not just of how to make fun, engaging content, but also at the very least know the basics of how Instagram’s algorithm works.

Let’s look a bit more in-depth into how Instagram chooses what content to show to whom, and how you, as a creator, brand, or channel manager, can put your content in the best places to succeed on Instagram.

What is the Instagram algorithm?

Before diving into the specifics, it’s important to clarify how Instagram’s algorithm works across the platform. First and foremost, while we’re referring to an “algorithm” in this article, Instagram itself has shared that the company doesn’t have one algorithm that oversees what people do and don’t see on the app.

Algorithms exist, of course, but most modern social platforms these days use a complex combination of algorithms, classifiers, and processes to help users make the most of their time on the app.

It’s nearly impossible to simplify these sorting processes down to one algorithm that can be tricked or gamed in any meaningful sense. However, Instagram does want its creators to understand how instagram’s algorithm works and what it values in terms of content so that creators can share photos and videos that will provide value for audiences.

Each part of the app – Feed, Explore, Reels – uses its own algorithm tailored to how people use it. In particular, the Explore page on Instagram is where Instagram sees most users discover new accounts, creators, and brands. And, as such, Instagram treats these separate sections differently.

How does Instagram’s algorithm work when ranking Feed and Stories?

To help break things down further, let’s explore, how does Instagram’s algorithm work when ranking different areas? Let’s first look at the main Instagram Feed and the popular Stories feature. Instagram shares that the company has learned over the years that Feed and Stories are where people want to see content from their friends, family, and those they are closest to. 

These two areas prioritize recent posts shared by people you follow. There are a few exceptions, like ads, but the vast majority of what users see is shared by those they follow.

Next, Instagram takes all the information it has about what was posted, the people who made those posts, and their preferences. Instagram refers to these as “signals,” and they include everything from what time a post was shared to whether you’re using a phone or the web to how often you like videos. 

Instagram ranks the most important signals across Feed and Stories in the following order of importance:

• Information about the post. These are signals both about how popular a post is – think how many people have liked it – and more mundane information about the content itself, like when it was posted, how long it is if it’s a video, and what location, if any, was attached to it.
• Information about the person who posted. This helps us get a sense of how interesting the person might be to you, and includes signals like how many times people have interacted with that person in the past few weeks.
• Your activity. This helps us understand what you might be interested in and includes signals such as how many posts you’ve liked.
• Your history of interacting with someone. This gives us a sense of how interested you are generally in seeing posts from a particular person. An example is whether or not you comment on each other’s posts.

From there, Instagram simply makes a set of predictions. These are educated guesses at how likely users are to interact with a post in different ways. In the Instagram Feed, in particular, the five interactions Instagram looks at most closely are how likely users are to spend a few seconds on a post, comment on it, like it, reshare it, and tap on the profile photo. 

A takeaway for creators and brands here is simply to create quality content that you know will resonate with your family, friends, and close followers.

How does Instagram’s algorithm work when ranking Explore?

Let’s now move on to how Instagram ranks its Explore section. This is the page within Instagram that is truly designed for users to discover new things. The grid is made up of recommendations – photos and videos that Instagram goes out and finds for users, which is very different from Feed and Stories, where the vast majority of what users see is from the accounts they follow.

To find photos and videos for its users to be interested in, Instagram looks at signals like what posts users have liked, saved, and commented on in the past. Once Instagram finds a group of photos and videos a user might be interested in, the app orders them by how interested it thinks you are in each one, much like how we rank Feed and Stories. 

The best way for creators and brands to guess how interested someone is in something is to predict how likely they are to do something with the post. The most important signals that Instagram looks at, in rough order of importance, are:

• Information about the post. Here we are looking at how popular a post seems to be. These are signals like how many and how quickly other people are liking, commenting, sharing, and saving a post. These signals matter much more in Explore than they do in Feed or in Stories.
• Your history of interacting with the person who posted. Most likely, the post was shared by someone you’ve never heard of, but if you have interacted with them, that gives us a sense of how interested you might be in what they shared.
• Your activity. These are signals like what posts you’ve liked, saved, or commented on, and how you’ve interacted with posts in Explore in the past.
• Information about the person who posted. These are signals, like how many times people have interacted with that person in the past few weeks, to help find compelling content from a wide array of people.

Users don’t see the people they follow in Explore, so it’s a great and dynamic way for users to find new accounts, brands, and creators that they might want to engage with and, perhaps, eventually follow.

How does Instagram’s algorithm work when ranking Reels?

Finally, perhaps the most important section of Instagram these days, Reels is designed to entertain users. Much like Explore, the majority of what users see is from accounts they don’t follow. Instagram employs a very similar process where it first sources reels it thinks users might like, and then orders them based on how interesting it thinks they are to users.

With Reels, Instagram specifically focuses on what it thinks might entertain users. Instagram is constantly surveying users and trying to find out whether they find a particular Reel funny or entertaining. 

The most important predictions Instagram makes are how likely users are to watch a Reel all the way through. The most important signals Instagram looks for, roughly in order of importance, are:

• Your activity. We look at things like which reels you’ve liked, commented on, and engaged with recently. These signals help us to understand what content might be relevant to you.
• Your history of interacting with the person who posted. Like in Explore, it’s likely the video was made by someone you’ve never heard of, but if you have interacted with them, that gives us a sense of how interested you might be in what they shared.
• Information about the reel. These are signals about the content within the video, such as the audio track, video understanding based on pixels and whole frames, as well as popularity.
• Information about the person who posted. We consider popularity to help find compelling content from a wide array of people and give everyone a chance to find their audience.

Instagram applies the same Recommendation Guidelines for Reels as it does with the Explore page. Instagram also avoids Reels that are low-resolution or watermarked, or Reels that are majority text, focus on political issues, or are muted due to using music or audio that isn’t properly licensed.

If you’re curious, we have some helpful guides that cover how to use copyrighted music on Instagram or how to use copyrighted music on Instagram Reels, which can help explain how to make sure content is never muted, taken down, or in danger of violating any copyright rules.