Instagram Finally Lets You Control What Videos You See.
After years of agonizing TikTok addiction, I decided enough was enough: I abruptly quit the app and deleted it from my phone. Then I discovered Instagram Reels, and my ability to concentrate has changed forever.
TikTok’s algorithm is infamous, but we underestimate Instagram’s. This platform is addictive . I’ve almost stopped using the app to communicate with friends and family: Reels grabs my attention and doesn’t let go, and before I know it, it’s midnight and I haven’t accomplished anything all evening. How many videos have I watched? What have I even watched? Whatever’s going on in the Meta algorithm, it’s a dangerous thing.
Of course, you can influence the algorithm: your in-app choices—likes, comments, watch time, reposts—tell the algorithm which videos you like and which you don’t, and they influence its split-second decisions about what to show you next. But until now, you couldn’t see what was driving these decisions. You’re essentially operating in the dark—you can try to steer the algorithm in the right direction, but you’ll never know exactly where you’re headed.
Now that’s changing. As Wired reports , Meta is rolling out a new tab for Reels viewers that will allow us to see why the algorithm shows us the videos it does. This tab, predictably called “Your Algorithm,” is currently rolling out first in the US, but will soon roll out globally—at least for English-speaking users. It’s reminiscent of TikTok’s “Manage Topics” feature, which lets you customize the types of content displayed in your “For You” feed.
How Your Algorithm Works on Instagram
When the “Your Algorithm” message arrives on your phone, you’ll find it in the upper-right corner of your Reels feed: two lines with heart icons on each. (I had to refresh the app and force-close it several times for it to appear.) When you open this tab, you’ll see a brief description of the type of content the algorithm thinks you’ve recently enjoyed. Meta’s example says, “You’ve recently been interested in creativity, sports excitement, fitness motivation, and skateboarding.” In my case, it says, “You’ve recently been interested in classic video games, laughing at comedy clubs, and making music in the studio.”
Below this overview, you’ll find a section called “What You Want to See More of.” Here, you can select specific categories of content you’d like to see more often in your feed. Instagram will suggest several options based on your past interests—the Meta example above shows categories like “Sports,” “Getting Together,” “Thirdhand Shopping,” and “Horror Movies”—but you can click the “Add” button to add your own searches. You can click on any of these content types to find an option to watch Reels in that category if you’d like to test any of them before making a final decision.
Below you’ll find the “What you want to see less of” section. It’s the same principle, but in reverse: you can select any type of content you no longer want to see in your feed. If you’re tired of hiking videos but Instagram keeps showing them, you can directly tell the algorithm to remove them.
If you click the three dots in the upper right corner, you’ll also find several shortcuts to existing content controls, such as whether to suggest political content in your feed, “all ages” controls, and filters for specific words and phrases, to name a few. You can also click the “Share” button to publish a short description of the algorithm to your story. I’m not sure who will need this, but I think I’ve already shared mine here, so who am I to judge?
Changes to Meta Content Settings
Wired notes that these changes come amid pressure from the European Commission on Meta to give EU users more control over their data: until now, users could pay to not see ads, but since the European Commission deemed this insufficient, Meta will allow users to choose whether to allow all of their data to be used for personalized advertising or only a small percentage.
This isn’t happening in the US, but that doesn’t mean Meta is staying the same. The launch of “Your Algorithm” comes amid criticism of Meta’s approach to engaging with young users on its platforms. Meta is reportedly aware of how addictive its apps are, especially among teenagers, and the company’s internal policies regarding chatbot interactions with minors are, frankly, appalling. The company has implemented teen accounts on apps like Instagram and Facebook that limit communication and interaction, and is developing new AI-powered parental controls . “Your Algorithm” appears to be the latest in a series of attempts to make it easier for users to manage their experience on Meta’s platforms. Theoretically, you could even use these controls to make using Reels less addictive.
I think this is all good news, but I’m afraid there’s still much work to be done to make Meta’s products—like many other social media products—less addictive and, overall, more useful to us. Here’s an example: I opened the app to test “Your Algorithm,” and not only didn’t find it the first time, but I also wasted five minutes of my life watching the first video that appeared in my feed. I need to delete Instagram from my phone.