The better you understand the Instagram algorithm, the more effectively you can expand your audience and reach. Yet, keeping up with its constant changes and figuring out what truly works can feel overwhelming.
That’s why we’ve created this comprehensive guide to Instagram’s 2025 algorithm. It’s packed with actionable insights to help you maximise your visibility and connect with your audience.
The Instagram algorithm is a formula that determines which content appears on users' feeds. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, an algorithm is "a set of mathematical instructions or rules that, especially if given to a computer, will help to calculate an answer to a problem." On social media, this "problem" involves deciding which content gets promoted, to whom, and in what order.
The Instagram algorithm is incredibly complex. To promote posts effectively, it considers factors about each piece of content and user. While it’s commonly referred to as "the Instagram algorithm," it’s actually a collection of multiple algorithms, each tailored to a specific app feature. As Instagram explains, "We use a variety of algorithms, classifiers, and processes, each with its own purpose."
All the algorithms take into account valuable data, such as relevant hashtags in Instagram captions, the user's previous interests, and location tags. Still, each one has unique "signals" it uses to curate content:
In simple terms, the algorithms have the same primary goal: to encourage users to spend as much time as possible on the application.
Thus, while ensuring its interface is as intuitive as possible, Instagram must offer each user the most interesting and even addictive content to grab and hold attention. The algorithm does this by storing data about users' activity to make educated guesses at which content will appeal to them and in what order.
The Instagram algorithm changes often to manage behaviour shifts. People react differently to content over time. As a result, Instagram regularly updates its algorithm to keep people engaged.
Let's investigate the current algorithm features.
Although not all user interactions have the same impact on a post, the number of interactions with a post indicates its value. Instagram wants to promote engaging posts that receive more comments, likes, and shares.
Recently, it rolled out a collection of new engagement tools, including "Hype Comments," which allow users to comment on a Story. This feature gives people more ways to respond and aims to increase community engagement with Stories. It also tells the algorithm how engaging a Story is.
The Explore page algorithm focuses on presenting highly engaging, trending content to new audiences.
Instagram has also updated its algorithm with new AI features, including:
Instagram has accelerated its crackdown on spam accounts and bots. These accounts dilute the quality of feeds and threaten safety, reducing people's interest in the application. Often, scammers impersonate popular creators, asking for investments or financial data through DMs from fake accounts. These challenges create a "Wild West" feeling and undermine communities.
Meta (parent company of Instagram, Facebook, and Threads) once diligently battled all forms of "hateful conduct." Now, it has quietened its decry of misinformation and hate speech.
"We’re going to reduce over-enforcement, cut down on mistakes and phase political content back in with a more personalized approach. Instagram was founded on the idea of creativity and giving everyone a voice, and this focus on free speech will help us get back to those roots." - Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram
Mosseri insists that these changes are an example of valuable freedom. Still, many critics disagree, including former US president Joe Biden, who said the end of fact-checking is "really shameful."
These new community guideline changes include:
Once upon a time, Instagram presented posts in chronological order. But for over a decade, it's been recommending the best posts from the creator accounts a user follows.
Now, Instagram includes more algorithm-based recommendations alongside content from people a user follows. By adding "suggested posts" similar to the content a user typically enjoys to the Feed, Instagram encourages people to discover new, exciting, and relevant content.
Instagram promotes original content over reposts to keep Feeds fresh and engaging. Adam Mosseri has stressed the benefits of novel content.
“People expressing themselves is the heartbeat of Instagram. It’s what makes Instagram work. One of the things I’ve learned from speaking with creators is how important getting credit for their work is to them.” - Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram
As a result, when Instagram finds repeated content on the platform or finds a word or watermark, it will only recommend the original post unless it has been significantly changed or is in meme format. Further solidifying this change, Instagram will add the original creator's link to reposted content.
In 2022, Reels was Instagram's golden egg. As a result, they were a great way for creators and brands to reach new audiences and feature on feeds.
However, the heyday of video content on Instagram is over. In a Q&A session, Mosseri stated, “I think we were overfocused on video in 2022 and pushed ranking too far and basically showed too many videos and not enough photos.”
Since then, Instagram has worked to balance the visibility of photos and videos. Mosseri continued, “Things like how often someone likes photos versus videos and how often someone comments on photos versus videos are roughly equal, which is a good sign that things are balanced.”
The algorithm considers five main factors when deciding whether a post should appear on the user's feed. Each informs the platform's educated guesses about which content will be most engaging.
Knowing this information puts you in the best position to create content that reaches followers and new audiences. As Instagram puts it, they assess "how likely you are to spend a few seconds on a post, comment on it, like it, reshare it, and tap on the profile photo."
The algorithm predicts how much a user will care about a post based on their past behaviour towards similar content. It also assesses how interested others were in the content, including watch times and how much they interacted with it through likes, comments, and saves.
The number of saves a post gains is pivotal in telling the algorithm whether people value the content so much that they plan to view it again. Put simply, saves are one of the most critical signals for Instagram, signifying strong user interest and engagement.
High engagement rates can enhance a post's ranking on the social media platform, making it more likely to appear on users' feeds and the Explore page. Consequently, producing save-worthy content, such as educational posts, infographics, or tutorials, is an excellent way for creators and businesses to maximise engagement and reach new audiences.
The Instagram algorithm works this way to ensure that high-quality, relevant content receives the attention it deserves.
Instagram prioritises content from creator accounts that users often interact with through likes, comments, direct messages, and search queries.
It’s important to note that Instagram does not judge relationships on users' closest friends or family. Instead, it considers the number of times a person interacts with an account.
Instagram prioritises more recent posts over older ones. It aims to show the latest content, ensuring users see up-to-date posts.
How often a user opens Instagram also impacts the algorithm. Users who check the app more frequently will see a more chronological feed, while less frequent users will see posts that the algorithm believes are most relevant to them.
Users who spend more time on the app will see a broader range of content, while shorter sessions will focus on the most relevant posts.
It is also important to find the best time to post for the algorithm. After analysing 2 million Instagram posts, Buffer found that 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays were the best times.
But there is no one-size-fits-all. Use Instagram analytics to discover when your audience is most likely to engage with content by viewing their most active times.
The number of accounts a user follows affects what they see. If a user follows many accounts, the algorithm has more content to choose from, making it less likely for any single account to be prioritised.
The Instagram algorithm also considers the creator account's number of followers. While engagement through comments, likes, and shares on a post are the most important signals, accounts with larger followings tend to gain these valuable engagements more quickly. In addition, these established accounts will often have built relationships with their audiences.
Despite this, when the number of followers reaches a much higher level, the engagement rate tends to drop, as the creator can no longer meaningfully engage with their followers personally.
This is why working with nano or micro-influencers is a great way for brands to reach a small yet engaged audience.
Instagram assumes that users want to see the posts and Stories of the people they show the most interest in. Therefore, the first posts and Stories Instagram shows to a person will always be those from the accounts they follow, ranked by closeness or engagement.
This is particularly important on Stories because content appears only as a profile picture in a person's feed. If the user isn't interested in that person's content, they are unlikely to click on the Story. This is contrary to other parts of the app, where the content takes the lead rather than the account name.
To rank a Story, Instagram’s algorithm will rely on tons of data – called “signals” by the platform. There are thousands of them, but here are the four main types of signals that predominate, ranked in order of importance:
Based on these signals, the Instagram algorithm for the Feed and Stories will try to guess which posts are most likely to provoke user interaction. It prioritises the likelihood of the user doing one of the following five interactions:
Reels are intended to entertain the user, regardless of closeness. As a result, the majority of the content comes from unfollowed accounts. To rank videos, the algorithm focuses specifically on signals related to an individual’s appreciation of the video.
In 2025, every time a user watches a Reel, it adds to the view count. In the past, only the first view counted, while the following views were ignored.
The main signals used by the Reels algorithm are:
Using these signals, Instagram’s algorithm will make predictions based on factors measuring the likelihood of the user doing one of the following four actions:
As with Reels, the Explore tab is intended to introduce people to new content. On this page, Instagram compiles photos and videos that users should like based on their past app behaviour (views, likes, comments, check-ins) rather than content from their closest friends or favourite accounts.
Once the app has found a number of photos to suggest to the user, it ranks them mainly according to four signals:
Understanding how the algorithm decides which content to show is the first step to getting noticed. But what specific actions can you take to increase your visibility on Instagram?
When creating content, always put the user at the centre of your strategy to create content that resonates with them and makes them interact. Ideally, your posts should be visually pleasing and evoke a strong reaction from the user. When someone sees your post, it should give them a strong emotion (laughter, sadness, or surprise). Alternatively, teach them something valuable that they will want to save and share.
Following its tradition of boosting accounts that use new features, Instagram boosted Reels when they first launched. As a result, right after their introduction in 2020, Reels became highly popular on the app, encouraging Instagram to promote them heavily in 2022. But by 2024,Reels had taken a backfoot. However, they remain an excellent way to reach new audiences.
If you post at times when your followers are on Instagram, you are more likely to have your content featured at the top of their news feed. To give yourself the best chance, you can use Instagram analytics or tools like ContentCal, Loomly and Agorapulse to identify the best days and times to post based on your followers’ habits.
To encourage accounts to use advertising and to avoid overloading users’ news feeds, Instagram’s algorithm does not display your content to all your followers. On average, a post is only shown to a maximum of 60% of followers. To overcome this problem, it is essential to inform your subscribers of the release of your latest video by promoting it as a Story.
The Instagram algorithm evaluates post quality through user interaction. Therefore, the more shares, saves, comments, and likes you have on your posts, the more Instagram will highlight them so that they are discovered by other users. To do this, it is necessary to create content that encourages interaction. In your Stories, use the poll or comment features to generate interaction and let the algorithm know that your content is appreciated by your audience. In your posts and Reels, include questions in the description to drive more comments, as well as calls to action to get them to save and like your post. Using relevant hashtags also helps direct the content to people who are most likely to enjoy it and, therefore, interact.
Respecting community guidelines is crucial for maintaining a positive presence on the social media platform and avoiding being flagged as spam. These guidelines include prohibitions against hate speech, violence, nudity, and other inappropriate content. Adhering to these rules not only protects your account from being penalised or banned but also promotes a positive community atmosphere where users can engage safely.
Additionally, it's important to avoid behaviours that can be perceived as spam. This includes repetitive, irrelevant, or excessive posting, mass following or unfollowing, excessive liking, and repetitive comments. Such activities can trigger Instagram's spam detection mechanisms and result in your account being flagged or even temporarily suspended. By posting meaningful content and engaging authentically with your audience, you ensure that your account remains in good standing and continues to grow organically. Respecting these guidelines helps maintain the integrity of your account and fosters a healthier Instagram community.
Understanding the Instagram algorithm is key for businesses looking to market on the platform. After all, the algorithm determines the visibility of your content, which directly affects its impact. By understanding the algorithm’s priorities, you boost your chances of being seen by a larger and more targeted audience. Use this information to choose influencers who will promote your content to the top of your target audience's feeds.
Pro tip: Check out our 2025 influencer marketing guide to discover the tactics that push brands to success.
The Instagram algorithm prioritises posts with high engagement. These interactions signal to the algorithm that your content is valuable and worth promoting to a wider audience. Therefore, it's essential to collaborate with an influencer who has high engagement rates. These also show the creator's relationship with their audience.
In truth, these metrics can be difficult to attain. Using a platform like Kolsquare allows you to assess an influencer's reach and engagement. All you have to do is quickly search through the database to receive a list of compatible creators immediately. From there, understand their audience, content, and engagement rates.
Once you are ready to launch your campaign, the Kolsquare platform acts like a hub, centralising your influencer communications in one place and providing regular reviews that help you improve your campaigns.
Book in for a Kolsquare demo today, free of charge.
Recency is another critical factor in the algorithm. Instagram tends to prioritise newer posts, ensuring that users see the latest content. Regular posting can keep your content fresh and more likely to be shown in users' feeds. However, balance is key; posting too frequently can overwhelm your audience while posting too infrequently can cause your content to be overlooked.
As a result, the most effective influencer marketing involves collaborating with an influencer long term rather than short term, even though these options are lower risk.
In recent updates, Instagram has aimed to balance the visibility of different content types, including photos and videos. This shift means that incorporating a mix of photos, videos, and other formats like carousels can help maintain consistent engagement and visibility.
Brands' social media managers should use relevant hashtags when posting to boost views and always mark posts with #ad, etc, to keep people engaged.
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