How to interact better on Instagram?
Recently, Instagram provided some more detailed information about how the algorithm works on News Feed. It seems that Instagram wants the community to have a better view of the platform (both users and brands) – and provide more transparency in their process.
There are 3 algorithms that are 3 main factors that Instagram prioritizes over any other factor. That is:
- Interest - The algorithm will determine your level of interest in each individual post by determining how much or how little you have interacted with similar content in the past. With this, Instagram will look at the number of users interacting with images and videos posted. Interestingly, the system will also visually evaluate the post's visual content, supported by its in-house developed image recognition tools.
- Timeliness – Instagram also cares about the time your post is posted. Some users have complained that they see a lot of outdated content on their homepage, which Instagram recently rolled out an update to address.
- Relationship – This is the last major factor, which is your relationship with the person posting, based on how much or how little you have interacted with them in the past. Factors used in this algorithm include general interactions, like comments and likes on each other's posts, but also Direct messaging, post tags (i.e. if you're often tagged in image of that person and vice versa)
All of these factors are quite well known and are very similar to the factors that Facebook still uses on its News Feed - but the special feature lies in image recognition.
Facebook has also been working on image recognition tools for a while, and they've gotten a lot better at recognizing subjects in still photos – you can now search Facebook based on image content .
That's one way to apply this tool, but Instagram seems like a perfect place for this tool, given its nature as a visual social network. We have to admit that the algorithm is really interesting in being able to organize content into topic channels.
You can imagine how image search fits into that process, instead of referencing by Hashtags, Instagram can also use image content to help highlight the things you care about a lot.
That might explain why, when you look at many pictures of pretty girls, your home page only displays pictures of pretty girls. Many times I wonder if Instagram can analyze whether a photo of a girl is pretty or not and displays all the pretty girls like that... Just kidding, that's because photos of pretty girls will get more likes and will be prioritized for display. (as mentioned in the 3 factors above)
This development likely hints at the next evolution of the Instagram algorithm that will place more emphasis on what's actually in each image, as opposed to the tags you use or the caption. For example, if you look at a lot of photos on the beach, you'll probably want to see more, and although the system may not be able to identify textual elements that demonstrate this, using image recognition can recognize them.
For those of us in sales and marketing, this could lead to a significant change in how you post to reach your target audience.
Additionally, Instagram has also clarified a few popular algorithms:
- The return of the chronological arrangement won't be happening anytime soon.
- The algorithm does not prioritize images or video posts – as noted above, this will be based on each specific user's preferences.
- There is no penalty for you if you post too often. However, your posts will be interspersed with other users' to avoid people seeing a bunch of content from you.
- The algorithm has no preference for personal or business accounts – all are ranked the same.
Many Instagram users were unhappy when the platform introduced an algorithm for determining feeds, but user data has shown the exact opposite. Before the introduction of the algorithm, users spent about 21 minutes per day on the Instagram app, but since its implementation, the average per user has increased to 24 minutes per day.
It might not sound like much, but Instagram has 800 million users, 3 minutes is more engagement time, and more opportunity for Instagram to monetize users with ads. One more thing, users under 25 years old now spend more than 32 minutes per day.
According to internal data, according to the timeline classification system, users missed about 70% posts from people they follow and 50% posts from their friends. Instagram says that users are currently viewing 90% of their friends' posts, making it clear that intimacy and connection with people you know on the platform is important.
This is a difficult balance of algorithms. Although a machine classification system may not be as good as a human at accurately detecting relevance or discovering the best new content, it is very good at taking signals (who you interact with) and using them to show you more from those specific people.
That's what I learned and translated from an article on Social Media Today. As a marketer, you should understand how the platform operates to create the best content and interaction with customers. increase reach rate.
P/s: If you have any comments. Don't forget to comment below!