The content feed on platforms like Instagram and TikTok is no longer dominated by your social graph. Instead, AI algorithms serve content based on your demonstrated interests, making relevance, not follower count, the primary driver of reach.

Instagram allowing users to customize their feeds by topic means brands may see a drop in overall views. However, this is a positive shift. It ensures content is served to a pre-qualified, highly interested audience, making the remaining views more valuable and likely to convert than mass, untargeted reach.

Social media algorithms can be trained. By actively blocking or marking unwanted content as "not interested," users can transform their "for you" page from a source of distracting content into a valuable, curated feed of recommended information.

Instagram now lets users explicitly select topics for their Reels feed. This shift means creators with a tight, consistent content focus are more likely to be surfaced repeatedly. Accounts covering multiple disparate topics risk being filtered out as users narrow their preferences, making niche expertise more critical than ever for discovery.

Users can now manually add or remove interest categories to customize their feed algorithm. This allows creators with a well-defined niche to be directly recommended to users who have explicitly expressed interest in that topic, leveling the playing field for smaller accounts to get discovered.

Social media algorithms are so sophisticated they identify your ideal customer based on the content's subject, language, and visuals. Instead of chasing generic views, create hyper-specific content for your target avatar. The platform will find the right audience for you, making the content the ultimate targeting tool.

When platforms like Instagram roll out a new feature, such as the awkward long horizontal format, marketers should adopt it immediately. Platforms aggressively push new features to drive adoption, rewarding early adopters with increased visibility and reach, even if the feature itself is disliked by users and creators.

When platforms like Instagram or LinkedIn release new features, their algorithms often prioritize content and ads that use them. This creates a window of opportunity for marketers, who can gain amplified reach and engagement by quickly adopting these new tools before they become mainstream.

The common belief that algorithms dictate our consumption is false. Algorithms are designed for user retention, so they will rapidly adapt to what you actively search for and engage with. You can completely change your feed by intentionally seeking out different content, proving the user is in control.