The Instagram algorithm changed materially over the past 18 months, and the playbook from 2023 no longer reflects how reach is distributed in 2026. Adam Mosseri's team has shifted weight toward sends per reach, watch-time depth on Reels, and small-account discoverability — three signals that reward original content over recycled formats. If you have ever wondered why a polished post can flatline while a rough Reel from a 400-follower account hits 200,000 views, the answer sits inside how the 2026 ranking systems weigh each piece of content per surface.
The Instagram algorithm can assist in improving engagement on your posts, increasing your reach, and even gaining more Instagram followers. However, the truth is, many marketers, businesses, and Instagram users don’t understand how the algorithm works.
In this guide, we will spend time discussing all aspects of the algorithm so you can understand what it does and why it does it. Not only will this knowledge help you tailor your Instagram marketing strategy, but it can also impress your friends with your newfound understanding.
Quick Links
Instagram Algorithm: What Is It?
How Does Instagram Algorithm Work In 2023?
8 Best Practices That Will Land You On The Good Side Of The Instagram Algorithm
Timeline Of Instagram Algorithm Updates
Moving Forward With The Algorithm
Instagram Algorithm: What Is It?
Let’s start with a mind-blowing fact: the Instagram algorithm isn’t actually a single algorithm. Instead, it’s a collection of algorithms, classifiers, and processes that work together to present the right content to the right people at the right time.
In essence, that’s what the algorithm does. It doesn’t have ulterior motives and it doesn’t favor or disadvantage your business, posts, and reach.
The objective of Instagram (and therefore the algorithm) is to ensure that its users enjoy their time on the app and spend more time there. The more time users spend scrolling, the more ads they see, and this translates into more revenue for Instagram.
In order to keep users on the platform and viewing the content they want to see, the Instagram algorithm works to prevent users from being bored with the content they’re seeing. This is where the algorithm comes into play.
The algorithm ensures that users see what they want to see. In some cases, this means showing people posts by their close friends, connections, and users they interact with regularly. For others, it’s showing them posts that Instagram thinks they’ll like or be interested in. This is how they help increase the reach of certain posts.
Since Instagram has multiple algorithms and processes, let’s dive a little deeper into them.
How Does Instagram Algorithm Work In 2023?
The algorithm is broken down into three different overarching categories. Generally, people use different parts of Instagram differently, so the various algorithm processes reflect that. There’s an algorithm process for the feed and Stories, one for the Explore page, and one for Reels.
Algorithm for Feed and Stories
Instagram has determined that people want to primarily see posts from their friends in their Feed and Stories. For the algorithm, this means showing you posts by people you know and follow, starting with their most recent posts.
The algorithm relies on a few sets of information:
Data on the post (how many likes it has, when it was posted, location, etc.)
Information about the poster (how often people have interacted with this person recently)
Your activity (how many posts you’ve liked, etc.)
Your history with a certain person (whether or not you and the poster comment on one another’s posts)
The algorithm uses this information to make predictions. Mostly, they’re trying to predict how long you’ll look at a post, whether or not you’ll engage with it, and if you’ll go to the poster’s profile from that post.
Algorithm for Explore
Unlike the Feed and Stories where people tend to want to see posts from people they know, the Explore page is typically full of posts and accounts that someone might be interested in seeing. This calls for a different set of algorithms, as much of the above information (like your history with a certain person) doesn’t apply.
The algorithm looks at the posts you’ve liked, looked at, and generally engaged with to see what you might be interested in seeing. They’re looking at account names, hashtags, locations, and keywords that are used in posts that you consistently engage with and view.
Algorithm for Reels
Finally, let’s talk about the Reels algorithm. Reels are designed for fun and entertainment, and at a high level, the algorithm works similarly to the algorithm for the Explore tab. Reels that rank highly on these questions are more likely to be shown to others.
8 Best Practices That Will Land You On The Good Side Of The Instagram Algorithm
Now that we’ve talked in detail about the Instagram algorithm and how it works, let’s talk about how you can use this information to your advantage and stay on its good side.
Improve Your Hashtag Strategy
Hashtags are important on Instagram, especially if you want to increase your reach. When people search for hashtags, you want them to be able to find your post. But that’s the basic understanding that most people have about trending Instagram hashtags.
Post High-Quality Posts To Get More Likes
One of the pieces of data the algorithms are looking for is how quickly people are engaging with it, as well as the overall engagement rate versus people who just looked at the post or scrolled past.
Respond To Comments
Responding to comments is a good idea, even outside of appeasing the Instagram algorithm. When you respond to comments, you’re adding more comments to your post, which increases the engagement rate on it immediately.
Post Consistently
When you post on a regular basis, you’re showing the Instagram algorithm again that you create content on a regular basis.
Take Advantage Of Instagram Trends
Trends are popular for a reason. When people view a video or post that covers a particular trend, chances are high that they’ll want to see more posts about that same trend.
Apply Best Practices For Viral Marketing
There are many tips for creating viral posts, but there isn’t a hard-and-fast rulebook to follow that can guarantee you a viral post.
Run A Contest Requiring Participants To Like, Follow, And Comment
Remember that a large portion of the data the algorithm uses to boost and recommend posts is based on engagement.
Determine The Best Time To Post
The time a post is shared is used as a signal for the ranking algorithm.
The 2026 algorithm rewards specificity. Pick a single niche, post for the people inside it, and write captions that earn replies rather than thumbs-up. Treat sends, saves, and rewatches as your real scoreboard. Likes are noise — the people sharing your post in DMs are the audience Instagram is using to decide whether to push your content to the next ring of viewers.
What Changed in the 2026 Reels Ranking Refresh
Instagram rolled out a Reels ranking update in late 2025 that promotes content from accounts viewers do not already follow, with a stronger emphasis on completion rate and rewatches. Mosseri confirmed in a December 2025 update that the recommendation system now treats sends per reach as the highest-signal engagement metric, ahead of likes and saves. The practical implication: a Reel sent to 200 friends in DMs will outperform a Reel that picks up 5,000 likes but very few shares.
The refresh also penalizes aggregator and reposter accounts more aggressively. Instagram's 2024 originality pilot expanded across all regions in early 2026, and accounts whose top-performing posts are sourced from elsewhere now see a visible reach reduction on the affected piece. If you do repost, attribute properly and add commentary on top — bare reposts are filtered from Explore.
Three concrete changes worth adapting to right now:
1. Hook within the first 1.5 seconds. Average watch-time floors are higher in 2026, and weak hooks are filtered before they reach a wider audience.
2. Caption length matters again. Captions over 100 characters with an explicit conversation prompt drive 23-31% more comments per Hootsuite's 2025 Social Trends report.
3. Use Trial Reels. Posts that perform well to non-followers in the trial window roll forward to the main feed automatically, lowering the cost of experimentation.
None of these changes require a follower count to work. Smaller accounts with strong send-rates routinely outrank larger accounts with high like counts — the algorithm now reads sends as the clearest signal of value-per-viewer.
Moving Forward With The Algorithm
Now that you have a strong understanding of the Instagram algorithm, you know how it works and what you can do to stay on the algorithm’s good side.
Before you create your next post, think through the eight tips we included here and see if your post meets each of their criteria. Then, hit publish and start engaging with your followers.
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