Instagram may soon give users more control over what appears in their feeds as the platform continues working on new ways to personalize content recommendations.
The update was teased by Instagram boss Adam Mosseri, who shared a preview of several experimental features aimed at making it easier for people to tell the app exactly what they want—and don’t want—to see.
The new tools build on “Your Algorithm,” a feature Instagram introduced last year to help users customize the content they are recommended. Rather than keeping the feature hidden in the app’s settings, Instagram now wants to make it a much bigger part of the overall experience.
“We want to evolve Your Algorithm from a setting to something that feels central to your experience on Instagram,” Mosseri said.
He added that while some of the ideas are already being tested, others are still in development and may never become permanent features.
“Some of this is testing now, some is coming soon, some might not work,” he explained.
Instagram is testing new ways to personalize recommendations
Among the concepts Mosseri demonstrated is a feature that lets users access the Your Algorithm menu by pulling down on their Instagram feed.
Another concept shows users swiping up on a Reel to quickly customize the type of videos they want Instagram to recommend more often.
Perhaps the most noticeable addition is a set of buttons that could appear underneath every Reel, allowing users to instantly tell Instagram whether they want to see more or less content like the video they’re currently watching.
The goal is to make training Instagram’s recommendation system much easier, rather than requiring users to search through menus and settings.
Users still want one thing
While Instagram’s latest ideas have generated excitement, many users responding to Mosseri’s announcement made it clear they have a different priority.
The most-liked comments on his post were filled with requests for Instagram to show more posts from the people users already follow, rather than recommending content from creators they’ve never interacted with.
One user summed up the mood by writing:
WE JUST WANT OUR ALGORITHM TO SHOW THE PPL WE FOLLOW
The comment quickly became one of the most popular responses, reflecting a long-running complaint that Instagram’s recommendation system often prioritizes suggested posts and Reels over updates from friends, family, and favorite creators.
Instagram continues to invest in AI-powered recommendations
The latest tests are part of Meta’s broader effort to make Instagram’s recommendation system more personalized through artificial intelligence.
Over the past few years, Instagram has increasingly relied on AI to recommend Reels, photos, and creators based on users’ interests rather than simply displaying posts in chronological order.
While that approach has helped users discover new content, it has also drawn criticism from those who feel the platform has strayed too far from its original purpose of connecting friends and people they intentionally choose to follow.
There is no official timeline for when the new Your Algorithm features will roll out globally, and Instagram says some of the concepts may never make it into the final app.
Still, the latest preview suggests that giving users more control over their recommendations has become one of the platform’s biggest priorities as it continues competing with TikTok and other social media apps.
