- Meta has good news for Instagram users unhappy with their recommendations algorithm.
- The company is testing a feature that would allow users to get new recommended content.
- Meta is gearing the feature toward teens but plans to roll it out globally soon.
Sick of the recommended content on your Instagram feed? Meta is testing a feature that would let you reset your algorithm with a clean slate.
The company said in a blog post on Tuesday that it’s experimenting with letting users clear out their recommendations on Instagram across explore, reels, and feed for a “fresh start.”
Meta said the feature “will soon roll out globally.”
If you decided to reset your recommendation algorithm, your recommendations would still be fine-tuned over time based on the content you interact with. But now, you’d also be able to review the accounts you follow to unfollow any whose content you don’t want to see anymore.
Resetting your recommendations can’t be undone, the company said.
Meta said in its blog post that the feature is geared toward its teen users, though it isn’t 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 company said in the blog post. “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.”
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, talked about the coming feature in a video post.
“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 said. “So it’s not something I recommend doing all the time, but if you do end up in a place where you really don’t feel great about your experience, this gives you an out.”
TikTok similarly began rolling out the ability to refresh recommendations in its For You feed last year.
Meta recently began designating the accounts of users under 18 as “teen accounts” by default. This comes with more restrictive settings on who can message the user or comment on their posts and what kind of recommended content they’ll see in reels and explore.
Instagram is the most-used app among US teens, a recent Piper Sandler survey found.