Instagram announced on 30th April 2024 via head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri’s Insta account that it has made significant changes or updates to the algorithm.
Mosseri states they are going to start rolling out over the coming months (start of summer).
Here’s what he said and then I’ll share what that means….
- “So one change that we’re making to how ranking works is trying to do more to amplify small creators, specifically through recommendations. Now recommendations are photos and videos you see from accounts you do not follow. This is separate from connected content, content from accounts you already do follow. What we’re trying to do now is give every piece of content on Instagram a chance to be recommended to people who don’t follow you.”
What this means: Better distribution for smaller creators on the app. Fantastic news. So if you are a new creator or have a small following Instagram is going to show your content to more people that don’t currently follow you.
- “..we’re gonna be doing more over time, is something that we call direct replace. So if we’re gonna recommend content, that is a photo or video to someone who doesn’t follow the account that created it, We’re gonna start now looking to see if we can find the original piece of content, if there is one. And if so, we’re gonna actually show that original piece of content instead of the content coming from the aggregator or the resharer.”
What this means: Original content will be favoured and reposts will be replaced with the original post (if Instagram can find it) in recommendations. Plus a label will appear on the repost crediting the original creator.
“The other major change is changing how we treat aggregators on Instagram with regards to recommendations. So aggregators are people who go and click other people’s content and then post it without making a spin on the content or making it their own in some way, shape, or form.
And what we’re gonna start doing is trying to avoid recommending content from aggregators across Instagram. So aggregators will still be able to reach their followers, but we’re going to try to focus recommendations much less on aggregators and much more on original content creators.”
What this means: Original content will be favoured and reposts will be replaced with the original post (if Instagram can find it) in recommendations. Plus a label will appear on the repost crediting the original creator. Mosseri stated “this change won’t go into effect immediately. It’s gonna start happening at the beginning of the summer” so watch this space!
The other big update for Instagram is Meta verified accounts.
Now up until recently, you either applied for a verified account if you had enough evidence that you were someone in the public eye or you could pay a monthly fee of £9.99 per month (approx $14.99 USD)
Meta Verified is currently testing 3 new tiers for support (and pricing) for IG Business profiles and Facebook Pages. These are only currently available in New Zealand as an initial rollout.
Prices are as follows:
(Current) Business Standard – $14.99/month
Business Plus – $44.99/month for 12 months then $49.99/month
Business Premium – $119.99/month for 12 months then $149.99/month
Business Max – $349.99/month for 12 months then $499.99/month
“Meta Verified for businesses is a paid monthly subscription that supports you across Meta platforms with features to help with discovery, impersonation protection, account support and more.”
However, the people I know who have a paid verified account have said that they haven’t received better customer service or seen any increase in reach, engagement or distribution, so I’m not sold on it at the moment.
Find out more about the new verified tiers on the Facebook website here.
What are your thoughts? Would you pay a monthly fee if you were guaranteed better distribution on the Meta apps?