Instagram’s New Algorithm Will Prioritise Original Content Over Reposts

Instagram is bringing notable changes to how its system suggests content to the users. The company seems to be focusing on original content and increased distribution for smaller accounts. The new changes were announced by the company via a blog post.

The biggest change deals with aggregators -- accounts that repost other accounts’ original content and repost their videos and photos on their accounts. Sometimes these aggregators credit the original creator by tagging them in the post, but often, content is ripped off without any acknowledgment of the original post.

Instagram seems to have taken strict action against such accounts, and will now remove reposted content from recommendations across the platform. The update also has its crosshairs on serial reposters -- accounts that share content that they didn’t “create or enhance in a material way” more than 10 times in 30 days.

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Instagram Will Not Recommend Posts From Aggregation Accounts

The new update means the media-sharing app will not be promoting aggregator account content on the Explore page or the main feed. Affected accounts will become eligible for recommendations 30 days after the last time they reposted someone else’s content. This update will not have any effect of “a set of publishers” identified by Instagram with licensing agreements or resharing permissions from content creators, the blog post notes.

Instagram is taking serious steps to cut off repost accounts, as the company will replace the reposted content with the original creator’s post in recommendations. Instagram says it will only replace reposts when the original is “relatively new” and when the system is confident that the posts are similar depending on “audio and visual signals.”

Creators will be sent a notification when their original content takes the place of reposts and is recommended on the platform. It’s imperative to note that these changes will only apply to recommendations -- so people who follow an aggregation account, will still be able to see their reposted content on their profile.

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Instagram To Add Credits To The Original Creator

Apart from the aforementioned changes, Instagram will also be adding a label crediting the original creator -- though both the original creator and the account reposting the video or images will have the option to remove the label.

The penalizing of aggregator accounts is likely to have a bigger impact. Users who regularly repost infographics from organizations could face penalties. 

Reposting on the platform has become so common that there are entire apps dedicated to this, but users might think twice in the coming days, knowing it could get their accounts blocked from discovery features.