Instagram changes its ranking algorithm to benefit original content
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2024 5:33 am
Alessandro Alessio
Apr 27, 22 | 4 min read
Reading time: 3 minutes
It's 2022 and the world is in the midst of a platform war. The main reasons for this? Attention, retention and creation .
Over the years, we saw how Instagram dominated the social media market and how it basically became the “official” badge to determine whether a person could be considered an Influencer or even a Content Creator.
But a lot has changed in recent years, especially the rules of the content game .
As a strategy to keep people on the platform and value creators, Instagram announced that it will update its ranking algorithm to benefit original content .
While this may seem like exciting news, no details have yet been released on what these updates will be, how, and when we can expect any changes. It's unclear solomon islands email list whether, by "original content," Instagram means rewarding creators for originality or encouraging the creation of more Instagram- exclusive content .
We make some guesses about how this new update may affect marketers and content creation within the social platform.
So, read on as we dive deeper into that!
Follow us on the Rock Content LinkedIn page
A war for short videos
After the COVID-19 pandemic, brands realized that in order to keep users consuming their content, it was necessary not only to have a practical interface and create good content, but to do so in an original way that would catch and hold users’ attention. And they also saw that one of the best ways to do this was to work together with creators, to gain the scaling of the growing number of people who consume short videos for quick entertainment.
With this in mind, we were introduced to the two brands that are the protagonists of this platform war: Instagram and TikTok .
TikTok became a huge success not only because of the short video format, but also because of the dynamic ways of creating content with reactions, collaborations, and because it is well aligned with the music industry.
But even with all that, Instagram was still the place to be recognized as an influencer, so the most practical thing was to create content using all the TikTok tools and repost the content on Instagram.
And what did Instagram do to prevent that? Limiting the organic reach of watermarked videos from other platforms . It didn't work out very well.
As TikTok became more and more popular over time, Instagram decided to take another step to keep users within the platform: it shut down IGTV . The results of that? Not much, actually.
But over the past year, we've seen Instagram try to become "TikTok," even claiming it was no longer a photo-sharing app .
But what do all of these actions have in common? None of them are really focused on content creators or their experience with the platform. Basically, it was just doing what the competition does and using the brand to stay on top. But it's not 2018 and this strategy doesn't work anymore.
It took almost 2 years for the brand to realize that creators are like customers and promoters of the brand. If they don’t feel comfortable or if they don’t feel respected for their work, they will simply leave for another platform . Finally, understanding this, Instagram updated its algorithm to favor original content.
Originality is the key
What can we expect from that as marketers and content creators? Well, we can say that it’s a small step for Instagram but a giant leap for the market. According to Instagram boss Adam Mosseri : “If you create something from scratch, you should get more credit than if you share something you found from someone else. [As such] we’re going to do more to value original content, particularly compared to content that’s republished.”
That doesn't mean content edited outside the platform before being published will be penalized, Mosseri said. "The idea is that if you did it, it's original."
And this is also a good thermometer to see if most videos are edited outside the platform, which means that Instagram's editing tools need to be improved, so we can expect some future announcements related to this new algorithm update.
Apr 27, 22 | 4 min read
Reading time: 3 minutes
It's 2022 and the world is in the midst of a platform war. The main reasons for this? Attention, retention and creation .
Over the years, we saw how Instagram dominated the social media market and how it basically became the “official” badge to determine whether a person could be considered an Influencer or even a Content Creator.
But a lot has changed in recent years, especially the rules of the content game .
As a strategy to keep people on the platform and value creators, Instagram announced that it will update its ranking algorithm to benefit original content .
While this may seem like exciting news, no details have yet been released on what these updates will be, how, and when we can expect any changes. It's unclear solomon islands email list whether, by "original content," Instagram means rewarding creators for originality or encouraging the creation of more Instagram- exclusive content .
We make some guesses about how this new update may affect marketers and content creation within the social platform.
So, read on as we dive deeper into that!
Follow us on the Rock Content LinkedIn page
A war for short videos
After the COVID-19 pandemic, brands realized that in order to keep users consuming their content, it was necessary not only to have a practical interface and create good content, but to do so in an original way that would catch and hold users’ attention. And they also saw that one of the best ways to do this was to work together with creators, to gain the scaling of the growing number of people who consume short videos for quick entertainment.
With this in mind, we were introduced to the two brands that are the protagonists of this platform war: Instagram and TikTok .
TikTok became a huge success not only because of the short video format, but also because of the dynamic ways of creating content with reactions, collaborations, and because it is well aligned with the music industry.
But even with all that, Instagram was still the place to be recognized as an influencer, so the most practical thing was to create content using all the TikTok tools and repost the content on Instagram.
And what did Instagram do to prevent that? Limiting the organic reach of watermarked videos from other platforms . It didn't work out very well.
As TikTok became more and more popular over time, Instagram decided to take another step to keep users within the platform: it shut down IGTV . The results of that? Not much, actually.
But over the past year, we've seen Instagram try to become "TikTok," even claiming it was no longer a photo-sharing app .
But what do all of these actions have in common? None of them are really focused on content creators or their experience with the platform. Basically, it was just doing what the competition does and using the brand to stay on top. But it's not 2018 and this strategy doesn't work anymore.
It took almost 2 years for the brand to realize that creators are like customers and promoters of the brand. If they don’t feel comfortable or if they don’t feel respected for their work, they will simply leave for another platform . Finally, understanding this, Instagram updated its algorithm to favor original content.
Originality is the key
What can we expect from that as marketers and content creators? Well, we can say that it’s a small step for Instagram but a giant leap for the market. According to Instagram boss Adam Mosseri : “If you create something from scratch, you should get more credit than if you share something you found from someone else. [As such] we’re going to do more to value original content, particularly compared to content that’s republished.”
That doesn't mean content edited outside the platform before being published will be penalized, Mosseri said. "The idea is that if you did it, it's original."
And this is also a good thermometer to see if most videos are edited outside the platform, which means that Instagram's editing tools need to be improved, so we can expect some future announcements related to this new algorithm update.