The Instagram Algorithm in Pictures: Explained in 2 Minutes
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How come one Instagram post goes viral and another post gets stuck at 3 likes? Imagine having to explain the Instagram algorithm in a short video… The complexity of different rules and processes is difficult to summarize in a few sentences. Nevertheless, I have made an attempt. What do you really need to
Instagram started in 2010 as a photo app where everything wastelegram data served in chronological order. As Instagram's popularity grew, it quickly became apparent that people were missing a lot of photos. In 2016, they therefore started the Instagram algorithm , which ultimately aims to offer posts that you like to see the most .
Feed & Stories
I'll start with the algorithm behind the Feed and Stories. Whether your posts and Stories are actually visible in the Feed of your followers depends on 5 factors:
how long you stay on a post
whether you respond to the post
or whether you reward the post with a like
or you save it, or: saved
or you tap on the account's profile picture
Instagram tries to estimate this by looking at how popular a post is, who posted it, and what your relationship is with that person or topic.