Algorithms, once sold as the secret sauce for personalisation, have increasingly become a source of confusion and frustration for users and creators alike.
Between shadowy ranking systems and ever-changing signals, it can often feel like no one really knows why content appears (or disappears) from their feed. Now, platforms are finally starting to respond, experimenting with new ways to give users more say over what they see, and how.
In September, Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri announced that the platform was developing a way to let users take greater control of the content they get served. Currently, it uses signals such as engagement, view-through rates, shares and dwell time to gauge what topics and content you’re interested in, and then serve you more of that.
Going forward, Instagram is looking to introduce a new feature that will allow users to add or remove topics they may or may not be interested in. It’s similar to Facebook’s ‘see more like this’ or ‘see less of this’ buttons, but on a broader, topic-based level – giving you more control over the kind of content you see.
As the feature is introduced, and as users play around with it, it’s possible to see an impact in reach and views of your content, depending on both how sensitive these algorithm changes are and how widely these features are adopted.
In a similar vein, X is moving to a customisable, AI-driven feed, with Elon Musk reporting that the algorithm will be 100% AI-powered by November.
X has been one of the last stalwarts to stick to a (mostly) chronological feed. But with this new shift, personalisation and interests are key – meaning distribution would then be similar to the likes of TikTok and Reels feeds.
The main point of differentiation? The ability to explicitly ask Grok, the platform AI, to rearrange your feed to show you what you want to see more or less of.
Developers have also noticed main X competitor Threads testing a similar feature, where users can tag the Threads algorithm account to request more or less of certain content – though there’s been no official rollout or update from the platform or parent company Meta yet.
As platforms hand more power back to users, creators and brands will need to double down on genuine value and relevance. When audiences can fine-tune what they see, the content that wins won’t just be optimised for engagement – it’ll be designed for interest.