Instagram wants to give “original” content creators the credit they deserve, after announcing plans to update its ranking algorithm to serve more authentic images and videos to users’ feeds.
The move announced on Wednesday appears to be in response to the popularity of accounts that repost videos from TikTok using Instagram’s Reels feature.
Instagram wants less recycled content and more originality, as it said the app will now refrain from recommending content from accounts that primarily “aggregate and reshare” other people’s videos.
“If you create something from scratch, you should get more credit than if you are resharing something that you found from someone else,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri said.
While Instagram already tries to deliver original content to users, the algorithm will be now be more heavily weighted towards serving that objective.
Mosseri said overvaluing aggregators is “bad” for creators and could be detrimental to the social media platform’s growth in the long term.
Like Facebook, Instagram wants its app to be a hub for content creators rather than just a place for people to keep in touch with friends and family.
The latest changes should be beneficial for marketers using Instagram to publish fresh, branded content, as they are likely to get more reach and engagement as a result.
While original creators’ work will be amplified, meme accounts and those who repost clips and reels could now suffer in terms of visibility.
Instagram has also launched a feature called “enhanced tags” to help creators tag professionals in their content to increase their exposure.
This follows the official rollout of “product tagging” earlier this week, which will allow users to tag products, as part of the Instagram Shopping format.
