Instagram Attempts To Dispel Shadowbanning Conspiracies

A new blog post by Adam Mosseri — Instagram’s top exec — has offered some of the most detailed explanations about how the platform’s algorithm ranks various recommended content in a bid to dispel conspiracy theories concerning shadowbanning.

“Instagram doesn’t have a singular algorithm that oversees what people do and don’t see on the app,” explained Mosseri in his post. Instead, the executive explained that there are several algorithms and ranking systems working behind the scenes of the Explore, Reels, Stories, and Search sections of the app, with each using different signals for cues as to whether a creator or piece of content should be offered for a viewer’s perusal.

Regarding the order of posts in a user’s main feed, the algorithm uses past viewing activity to determine what to show next, as well as “closeness” and “how likely you are to be connected as friends or family”. On the other hand, Explore recommendations are primarily driven by “posts you’ve liked, saved, shared, and commented on in the past” but are more likely to come from creators or accounts the user has never interacted with.

One of the most interesting parts of Mosseri’s blog post is about “addressing shadowbanning”. Mosseri admits there isn’t a universal definition for the term but acknowledges that some creators “use the term to imply that a user’s account or content is limited or hidden without a clear explanation or justification”. Mosseri says that Instagram is working hard to increase transparency around when content or accounts are hidden from the platform’s recommendations.

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Mosseri notes that the “account status” feature will alert users if their content or entire account is considered “ineligible” for recommendations and that an appeals process is also available. While this isn’t the first time Instagram has addressed shadowbanning, there has been a noticeable shift in how the company talks about the topic.

The new details from Adam Mosseri’s blog underscore just how vital algorithm recommendations are to Instagram’s operation. Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg has even said that his goal is to transform both Instagram and Facebook into “discovery engines” focused on recommendations rather than posts from friends.