Instagram announced an expansion of its Your Algorithm topic preference feature to the main feed, giving users more direct control over what content the app shows them. The update lets users tell the system what topics they actually enjoy and what they want to see less of, building on a customization tool that began rolling out months earlier.
Users select from a list initially populated by Instagram’s system based on their in-app activity. Any changes made to that list then help the system revise the algorithmic parameters tied to each individual account.
Instagram first tested Your Algorithm for Reels in October 2025, then expanded it to the Explore feed in April. The main feed expansion now extends that same level of input to the core scrolling experience most users interact with daily.
Instagram chief Adam Mosseri published a broader reflection on algorithm-driven social media alongside the announcement, discussing where he sees user agency heading. Mosseri said the shift toward AI-powered recommendations has gradually eroded user control, diluting the social and personal elements of the platform experience.
“Who you follow used to be a meaningful tool people had for shaping their own experience, and as recommendations took over the main feed that tool quietly stopped working,” Mosseri said. “The system learns from what you tap, watch, and share, but you don’t really get to tell it what you want.”
Mosseri suggested this dynamic will shift further as AI capabilities expand.
“Within a few years, AI will be capable of not only letting us see and shape algorithms, but also generating entire bespoke experiences on the fly, tailored to an individual in real time,” he said, predicting that even core app structure and purpose could eventually differ from person to person.
The expansion arrives as AI-powered recommendations continue to drive the majority of engagement gains across Meta’s apps, making the move toward giving users more algorithmic control notable for a company whose business model has consistently prioritized maximizing time spent in-app above most other considerations.
