Instagram will allow its content recommendation algorithm to be reset

Back to square one. On Tuesday, November 19, the social platform Instagram announced the gradual deployment of a feature allowing its users to individually reset the algorithm that recommends content to them in a personalized way. “With just a few clicks, you can clear your recommended content on Explore, Reels, and Feed to start fresh”writes the platform, owned by the American group Meta, in a press release published on its site.

Currently in the testing phase with a limited number of users, the functionality “will be rolled out globally over the coming weeks”. The objective is that everyone can be offered publications that really correspond to their desires. Instagram specifies that these recommendations “will start to personalize again over time, showing you new content based on the content and accounts you interact with”.

To use this feature, the procedure will be simple. In the social network settings, users will have to go to a new tab called “Content Preferences”, where they will be offered to “reset suggested content”. Instagram warns that any reset of the algorithm is irreversible, but will not impact the accounts users follow or their advertising preferences.

A feature aimed at teenagers

Before proceeding with this reset, the Meta platform will also offer its users the opportunity to unsubscribe from certain accounts particularly highlighted on their respective algorithmic feeds and to designate advertising topics to which they would like to be less exposed.

Overall, the feature is primarily aimed at teenagers who use Instagram. “We want to ensure that all users·Instagram users, especially teens, benefit from safe, positive, age-appropriate experiences and believe that time spent on Instagram is valuable »underlines the platform. Last September, Meta had already undertaken to impose on its users aged 13 to 17 specific accounts aimed at protecting them from exposure to inappropriate content and allowing them to choose categories of favorite content.

In recent months, Instagram has therefore focused on giving its users control over the nature of the content offered to them. In this it follows the example of its rival TikTok, which launched a feature last March allowing you to reset your personalized algorithmic feed. The Chinese platform also updated its content recommendation policy, promising to show teenagers fewer potentially dangerous posts, such as videos that are sexually suggestive, related to sadness or promoting extreme diets.