Engagement pods, where groups agree to like each other's posts, ultimately harm your account. The algorithm recognizes the inorganic pattern of the same people engaging at the same time and weighs that engagement less heavily. This results in your posts being shown to fewer people, leaving you worse off.

Manually removing followers in bulk, even if they are bots, causes a sharp drop in your follower count. The algorithm interprets this mass exodus as a sign that your content is failing and consequently shows your future posts to fewer people, effectively penalizing your reach.

The algorithmic shift from social graphs (followers) to interest graphs means a single high-quality post from a new account can outperform one from a massive account. Creative merit, not existing audience size, is the primary driver of distribution on modern platforms.

Before blaming the algorithm, meet a high consistency bar: post to your feed five times a week, every week, for 12 consecutive months. If you haven't achieved this, the problem isn't the account's age but the lack of consistent effort and content refinement needed for growth.

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.

Instagram's algorithm is expected to evolve, placing more weight on watch time over simple interactions. This change will favor the rise of longer, unscripted, "FaceTime-style" storytelling content that has proven successful on TikTok, signaling a move away from short, highly-edited Reels.

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.

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.

The algorithm now prioritizes content quality over follower count, leveling the playing field. This removes the historical advantage large accounts had, making it feel like they are being disadvantaged or "shadowbanned" when they are simply competing on equal footing with smaller creators.