Whether you consider it a feature or a bug, Instagram Reels are becoming a mainstay in our collective internet experience — another constant, droning pull to keep us online and on our phones. I’ve come to accept that Logging On is a distinct part of my life, but as part of my ongoing attempt to hate myself less, I’ve been trying to trick the Instagram Reels algorithm into serving me content that makes me feel good.
I have decided that I no longer want to see anything on my Reels page that bums me out. This includes but is not limited to: people talking about their diets, creators doing scripted bits that are meant to appear organic, those animal abuse rescue stories, anything about productivity, things I want to buy, and news reports (sorry). I can get all of that information from other sources that offer more nuance and don’t make me sad. What I do want to see on my Instagram includes: wildlife, homes in the middle of the forest, steam coming from a hot cup of coffee, people’s nighttime routines, recipes for teas, cute animals, simple crafts and DIYs, OOTDs, and Reels my friends create.
Over the past few weeks, I researched just how Instagram works and took steps to create the ideal Instagram Reels experience.
Instagram describes its process of showing you Reels as such: “We first source Reels we think you might like, and then order them based on how interesting we think they are to you.”
The majority of Reels we see are from accounts we don’t follow, so unfollowing people doesn’t really change the kind of content you’ll find under the Reels page. Instead, I skipped past videos that made me feel bad. This worked, in theory, but when my willpower deflated it was really difficult to maintain. My brain is attracted to videos that make me feel bad. We’re drawn to content that makes us feel some sort of way, and I feel a great deal of emotion when I watch something devastating. This is the exact reason people are radicalized online. So, to remove the ability of choice, I started marking those posts as “Not Interested” and, if I really hate something, I’ll mute the account entirely. According to Instagram, the platform will “do our best not to show you similar recommendations in the future” when you mark a post as “Not Interested.”
“The most important predictions we make are how likely you are to watch a Reel all the way through, like it, say it was entertaining or funny, and go to the audio page (a proxy for whether or not you might be inspired to make your own reel),” according to an Instagram blog post.
Because of that, if there’s a video that I think fits the general vibe I would like to curate on my Reels page, I’ll watch it all the way through — whether or not I actually want to watch it all the way through.
The platform also puts a lot of weight behind how you engage with the content through liking and commenting on a video. I often find commenting on content from users I don’t know to be a bit embarrassing, so I don’t do that. But I did start liking and saving videos that I want to see more of.
Beyond watching the video and engaging with it, Instagram also looks at your activity, your history of interacting with the person who posted, information about the Reel, and information about the person who posted. I have no control over that last option, so I have chosen to ignore it. But I do have control over my history of interacting with the creators who post the kind of content I like. So, if I find a video I really adore while I’m scrolling through my Reels, I’ll go to their profile and like a bunch of their more recent posts.
I also add folks to my Close Friends in order to see more of their work — which primarily works well for me because I don’t really post to my Close Friends. According to Instagram, Close Friends for Stories “was designed as a way to let you share with just the people closest to you, but we will also prioritize these friends in both Feed and Stories.”
After spending more time on Instagram Reels in a week than I had in the entirety of its existence, and using all of the tools I could to direct the correct content to my page, it worked. Now, when I log on and slide over to look at Reels, I’m met with videos about rainy fall days, book recommendations, and multiple videos of ducks. This is what success looks like.
I’m sure I’ll be sad in 2023 — but I won’t be able to blame the Instagram Reels algorithm.
If you, like me, spend time skipping past videos with bad vibes, even if you’re drawn to them, here’s what you can do to curate a better experience: mark posts as “Not Interested” if you are not interested; watch videos all the way through when you want to be shown similar content; and engage with creators and videos that bring you joy. I promise you’re going to have a better time if you follow these simple rules.
In an ideal world, we would spend less time online. However, we do not live in an ideal world, so we can trade that for the ability to at least have a bit more control over how the content we view makes us feel. I’m sure I’ll be sad in 2023 — but I won’t be able to blame the Instagram Reels algorithm.
