Are you sick of seeing recommended stuff on your Instagram feed? Meta is testing a feature that allows you to restart your algorithm from scratch.
In a blog post published on Tuesday, the business stated that it is experimenting with allowing users to remove their Instagram suggestions across explore, reels, and feed for a “fresh start.”
Meta stated that the feature “will soon roll out globally.”
If you reset your recommendation system, your recommendations will continue to be fine-tuned over time based on the content you interact with. However, you may now check the profiles you follow and unfollow those whose content you no longer wish to see.
Resetting your suggestions is irreversible, according to the company.
Meta stated in a blog post that the function is intended for its teen customers, although it is not age-specific.
“We want to make sure everyone on Instagram — especially teens — has safe, positive, age-appropriate experiences and feels the time they’re spending on Instagram is valuable,” the organization said on its blog. “In addition to providing built-in protections from sensitive content with Teen Accounts, we want to give teens new ways to shape their Instagram experience, so it can continue to reflect their passions and interests as they evolve.”
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri announced the new function in a video clip.
“It’s going to make your Instagram much less interesting at first because we’re going to treat you as if we know nothing about you and your interests and it’ll take us some time to learn those again,” he told me. “So it’s not something I recommend doing all the time, but if you do end up in a place where you don’t feel great about your experience, this gives you an out.”
TikTok began offering the chance to renew recommendations in its For You stream last year.
Meta recently began defaulting to “teen accounts” for users under the age of 18. This includes more stringent restrictions for who can communicate or comment on the user’s postings, as well as the type of recommended content they will see in reels and explore.
Instagram is the most popular app among US youth, according to a new Piper Sandler survey.
