On December 10, 2025, Instagram made a big change with the launch of Your Algorithm – a feature that users can use to check and directly influence the topics that are most visible in their Reels feed. Up to now, the content you get was driven by an AI whose logic was totally hidden, but now you can come out from behind the curtain and have a say in what content you get.
Reels – Instagram’s short, fast, and visually appealing video feature – have been around for a while and the algorithms behind them have always been mysterious. These algorithms are said to use information about users’ viewing habits, likes, shares, watch time, and interaction in order to decide what content to recommend. “Your Algorithm” is a step forward in terms of Instagram’s transparency. The app uses AI to produce a brief summary of the current topics it thinks you are interested in (e.g. “creativity, fitness motivation, skateboarding, travel”) and then it gives you the whole list of areas it has guessed.
Anyway, the truth remains that the power to control lies with the user: now they have the ability to modify this list — point at the subjects they want to see more of, choose to hide the ones they do not like and even put new topics there by themselves. Would you like to watch more cooking reels? Just add the topic ” cooking.” Would you rather not see drama vlogs? Then, turn off the “drama” topic. The recommendation engine will change its behavior immediately according to your commands.
Besides that, Instagram gives you the option to post a snapshot of your interest profile to your Story — a kind of “taste profile” for Reels. The followers get to know the kind of reels that they will find interesting for you.
The company calls this a first step towards giving people “meaningful ways to control what they see”-. The point is that it starts with Reels and Instagram is planning to give similar powers to users not only in the Explore feature but also in other parts of the app in the near future.
Why This Your Algorithm Update Matters
1. Transparency-enhancing feature leads to more user confidence
The so-called ‘black-box’ recommendation systems of social media platforms have been under fire for years. These are the systems that deliver content according to algorithms users can’t fathom. By implementing ‘Your Algorithm,’ Instagram is shedding light on its processes: now users can actually follow the reasoning of their feed. Such transparency can help to establish reliability and lessen the sensation of being tricked by some hidden algorithms.
2. Content that is tailored and users have more say over it
Internet tastes are not definite. One week you might be very fond of fitness reels; the next week you might be more into art, travel, or music. The problem with traditional recommendation systems is that they adjust very slowly and almost imperceptibly and thus you receive content that you are no longer interested in. Thanks to “Your Algorithm,” you don’t have to be waiting — you can take the initiative and control your feed so that it reflects your current interests and this means that you consume content that is highly relevant and quite satisfying.
3. Creators and brands have the chance to leverage this
This change might affect the extent and prominence of the audience for creators, influencers, and brands — the condition applies notably to those who are the producers of the Reels. Thus, if users alter their algorithm toward topics that go hand in hand with your content, you being the one who turns up for them is highly probable. One piece of a note says: “’Your Algorithm’ can actually facilitate brands to be more easily found by aligning with particular interest buckets.” The implication of this is that the content creators might have to revisit and hence, reassess their niche, consistency, ways of tagging, or positioning of their content to synchronize with what people are opting for.
4. A move to counter the weariness of your algorithm
A great number of people say that this kind of activity is tiresome in which they endlessly scroll through their feed or consume the same genre of content repeatedly. By handing the actual power to users to control, Instagram is essentially saying that users aren’t in favor of being fed by the algorithm that they like — instead, users want to be the ones who make the decision. This might bring about the elimination of less relevant content, the increase of the users’ contentment level, and the overall enjoyment of Reels will be lifted.
What You Should Do to Make the Most of It
If you use Instagram — especially Reels — here are some quick tips for leveraging “Your Algorithm”:
- Check and update your interests regularly. Maybe you’re done with fitness reels and now want cooking or travel — adjust accordingly.
- Be explicit with what you want to see: use manual topic addition for narrow interests, not just the generic buckets.
- Mute irrelevant topics — don’t hesitate to suppress anything you find annoying or irrelevant.
- Share your algorithm taste profile — if you want to show followers what you like (could help if you’re a content creator or building a community).
- For creators/brands — align your content with trending user topic preferences so your Reels are more likely to get shown when users optimize their feed.
If you’re a regular Reels user — this is one of the biggest changes in years.
Is This Good – or Potentially Problematic?
On the face of it, more control and transparency sound like a win. But it’s not without possible downsides.
- Users may create narrow “filter bubbles”: if everyone only selects certain topics, you might miss out on variety, serendipity and exposure to new ideas.
- Creators whose content doesn’t fit trending topics might see reduced reach — which could hurt smaller creators or niche interests.
- Over-customization might make feeds feel too curated, possibly limiting discovery of unexpected content.
Still, offering control seems preferable to forced, opaque curation.
Final Thoughts
“Your Algorithm” is a big move towards more personalized social media. A change from feeds being controlled by your algorithms to user-driven experiences is indicated by Meta (the company that owns Instagram) allowing users to have a look behind the algorithm and control what they see.
This update is empowering you with more options no matter which of these three categories you fall into – a casual viewer of Reels, a creative content producer, or a brand that wants to grow a community. There is no doubt that this is a great opportunity to make your Instagram time more relevant, more personal, and more fun.
