Instagram users have a new way to level things up on the app’s recommendations engine. The feature, Your Algorithm, displays the interest topics that Instagram’s AI thinks are most relevant to you and allows you to add or subtract from them, changing what is brought into your feed in an active way. It will be available to users in the US first, with a wider release and more languages supported later on, and Instagram also promises that this level of control will expand beyond Reels to include Explore and the main Home feed in the future.
You will find the control through a new icon at the top right corner of the Reels feed that resembles two stacked lines with heart images. Tap on it to see a grid of topics, prune away what’s off-base, and add areas you want more of. Instagram also created a method to share your own topic map to Stories, a social twist that could lead to energetic comparisons among friends. If you don’t have the sticker yet, be sure to update your app; the feature is a server-side rollout and it may take some time before it arrives on all accounts.
What Changes Your Feed Will See With Topic Controls
Until now, learning for Reels was heavily based on passive signals — how long you watched a video, whether you re-watched or shared it, or left a comment or otherwise interacted with it. Explicit steering at the topic level is added by Your Algorithm. Let Instagram know you would like more travel itineraries and fewer car mods, and the system can recalibrate without enduring weeks of your behavior to convey that same message.
Don’t expect a hard reset, though. Instagram’s ranking algorithm is still a jumble of signals, and negative feedback (“Not Interested,” “Show Less,” hiding a Reel) is still an important input. In practical terms, adjusting your topic list should shift the mix of recommendations within a few sessions while your continued browsing tweaks the edges. Instagram says that this same AI will power Explore and Home later on, creating a single spine of personalization across surfaces for the platform.
Why Instagram Is Offering Users More Control Now
There’s consumer demand and regulatory heat. Users have been increasingly vocal about experiencing “feed fatigue” and feeling trapped by an algorithm that learned an outdated version of them. In the EU, for example, the Digital Services Act requires very large online platforms (services with at least 45 million monthly users in the EU) to offer more transparency on recommender systems and alternatives that do not depend on profiling. Topic transparency is a step toward that spirit, even if Your Algorithm is presented as a convenience feature.
Rivals are already playing around with controls: TikTok tacked on a Refresh button to rebaseline the For You page, and YouTube includes topic chips and feedback tools for Shorts. But not all controls are created equal. A Mozilla Foundation study in 2022 concluded its common feedback buttons had mixed effectiveness; YouTube’s “Not Interested,” for instance, cut the percentage of similar recommendations by far less than stronger signals like “Don’t recommend channel.” This research shows why that sort of explicit topic-level steering might be more powerful than mere dislikes.
There’s also a search angle. Instagram’s AI may write better post titles than you do. According to 404 Media, Instagram is testing AI-generated post titles that are meant to rank well. With Your Algorithm, it’s clear Instagram is going full throttle with AI to maximize discovery and to show its work to users.
How to Mold Your Reels Using Your Algorithm
- In Reels, tap the new icon on the top right to see inferred topics. Delete ones that don’t hit the mark and add areas you want more of.
- Continue to make your preferences known in-session: long-press a Reel and tap “Not Interested” for hard no’s, or use “Show More of This”/“Show Less of This” to subtly shape what you see without fully blocking a topic.
- Follow and bookmark creators aligned with your added topics. Follows, Saves, and Rewatches are strong positive signals and will sync with your topic edits.
- If your feed feels stuck in a rut, prune aggressively and diversify who you follow within those areas. Explicit edits plus new account signals drive refresh faster.
What This Means for Reels Creators and Brand Marketers
Audience curation cuts both ways. As people prune topics, creators could see more qualified impressions but fewer stray, low-intent views. That can increase watch time and completion rates over the long run — metrics that the ranking system rewards — as well as making clickbait tactics less sustainable. Clear, accurate captions, relevant hashtags, and consistent niches will also help content map cleanly to Instagram’s topic graph and land in the right feeds.
The shareable topic map is a quiet growth lever, as well. Creators can design collaborations or calls to action with the visible preferences as parameters.
Rollout and Availability Timeline for Your Algorithm
Your Algorithm is live now for Reels in the US in English, with Instagram planning to quickly spread it to additional regions and languages. More languages are coming up on the near-term roadmap, said Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, and the new feature will roll out to Explore and the Home feed after it’s introduced. And if you haven’t seen the icon yet, update your app — in no time at all (or perhaps it’s already there), you should be able to see the icon in that same Reels header.
The bottom line: Suggestions for Reels are not an enigma. With just a few taps, you can instruct Instagram what version of yourself it should be optimizing for — and watch the results in real time.
