Many Instagram users still don’t fully understand how the platform’s algorithm works. However, Instagram has lately supplied some clarifications. Knowing the algorithm and how it functions is essential, even if it appears obvious to others. This is especially true if you want your marketing efforts on this platform to be successful.

We’ve compiled the 12 most common misconceptions regarding Instagram’s algorithm to clear things up for you.

You will lose some of your audience size if you switch to a commercial account

Changing to an Instagram business account will not increase your following. Don’t fret if you’re thinking of making the transition from a personal to a business account. It won’t hurt your visibility if you go back and forth between your personal and business accounts several times. You can be sure Instagram is keeping tabs on your every move (people who try a corporate account and are disappointed by the results often revert to a personal profile).

It’s important to note that Instagram Insights (information about your key metrics and performance) is only available to corporate accounts. However, if you decide to revert from a corporate profile to a personal one, your Instagram Insights data will be deleted. Information gathering will resume after you return to your company profile.

Shadowbanning is real

Actually, shadowbanning does not work the way most people believe it does. To be more specific, Instagram did not intentionally create this situation. Representatives from Instagram have stated that there are five types of material that are permitted on the platform, however not all of them can be suggested under the Explore tab. Some examples of these types are:

sensitive and low-quality content about health and finance (mentions of cures, cosmetic procedures, misleading business models), frequently complained about (clickbait, promoting contests/giveaways, engagement bait), and low-quality content (repurposed content from another account, contrived content)
There have been complaints from different organisations throughout the years, and some users feel that their material should not be in breach of their regulations, therefore the first category may be problematic for them.

However, engaging in certain behaviours, such as providing a large number of likes or following several accounts quickly, may result in a temporary suspension on your account. The aim is to shut down accounts that are being used for spam or bots or anything else that seems suspicious.

Instagram is better suited for some tasks

Some Instagram features are not magically favoured. We can only surmise that it is partially preferring its newest features, like the Reels that keep showing up in our stream. However, just because you make use of features like Reels doesn’t guarantee your Instagram efforts will instantly increase in terms of performance (e.g., engagement).

Does this imply we can ignore all the other features and just share photos? In a word, no. There are two primary motivations for the dissemination of varied material types:

When it comes to media, viewers have a wide range of tastes. While some individuals would rather watch a video or read an Instagram Story, picture-only fans exist. You need to produce a wide range of material on Instagram if you want to appeal to all of your current followers as well as attract new ones.
From your point of view, the content you post is equally crucial. Why? It takes more time to make a compelling movie than it does to upload (and edit) a photo, as you probably already know. If you want to post high-quality Instagram content, you should give careful thought to how much time you have to devote to its creation and then allocate that time accordingly.

Instagram is obfuscating users’ content.

Many content creators and influencers have been complaining for months that their posts aren’t showing up in their audiences’ feeds. However, Instagram insists that this is not the case, and that users’ postings are never hidden. If you keep going down your stream, you will eventually see everything that has been posted. The issue is that many users nowadays are following hundreds of accounts, making it necessary to spend a significant amount of time each day scrolling through their feeds in order to keep up with everything that has been posted.

Keep in mind that the Instagram community places a higher value on personal connections than those with businesses or public figures. Therefore, the newsfeed prioritises the sharing of content from friends and relatives.

Every Instagram user sees the same top posts

This, too, is a fabrication. Our choices and interests are used to tailor the whole Explore Feed, including the top stories. Therefore, the TOP9 posts are subjective, as they depend on the individual’s Instagram activity. Because Instagram’s algorithm relies on machine learning and AI rather than static metrics, this is the case.

The Explore Page, where we see content tailored to our tastes and prior searches, works in the same way. That implies our Explore Page content will be absolutely unique for each of us. If you tend to read a lot of articles about sports and travel, for instance, the Explore Page will have a lot of articles with a similar focus.