Despite AI slop and advertising reels: This is how you get your Instagram feed under control

When it comes to social media, Instagram is the undefeated number one in Germany. According to the current media study by ARD and ZDF, 40 percent of those over 14 years of age surveyed, and thus the largest group, use the meta platform at least weekly; the US company’s transparency report shows 48 million recipients in this country who can be reached every month. The latter does not correspond to the specific users, but conversely this also means: On average, roughly every second German who uses the Internet is in the catchment area of ​​Mark Zuckerberg’s company, which earns the majority of its sales from advertising revenue and products optimized for it.

It will likely be months or even years before there are uniform regulations in this country on how to contain the harmful effects of social media. However, you can already clean up your own feed on Instagram and gain more insight. We’ve collected three tips to help you take back control of your feed.

Active algorithm training helps with social media fatigue

Perhaps one of the most important, but probably least used functions is training your own algorithm in both directions. While Tiktok’s endless video feed works well on its own, you have to help with Instagram. To do this, you use the “I’m interested” or “I’m not interested” function.

If you’re not currently seeing posts from accounts you follow, Instagram will keep sprinkling suggestions into your feed. Here you should explicitly sort out posts. If you are interested in a topic, report it back to the platform, if you are not interested, do the same. The disadvantage: This decision can potentially track you across the entire Internet because Meta records your activities using tracking pixels and feeds them to sites that have them installed and vice versa. However, it will make your Instagram experience better. Just like when you only like posts, reels or stories that really interest you. The more you use hearts and comments, the more likely you are to get a tailored feed. Instagram will also explain why you see a post by tapping on the three dots at the top right of each post.

You can also influence how Instagram perceives you afterwards. To do this, go to “Your Activities” from the hamburger menu in the app and select the relevant category such as “Likes”. Likes can then be selected individually and deleted again, just like comments or reposts. This is time-consuming, but can be useful.

Favorites function creates order in chaotic Instagram feeds

If you are not satisfied with your feed despite algorithm training, you can also use the favorites function. This is the third possible view of your content feed alongside the “For You” tab, which Instagram curates and weights itself, and the “Followed” feed, in which you only see the posts from your followers in chronological order.

To select this view, simply tap “For You” on the Instagram homepage, select “Favorites” and then “Add Favorites”. Instagram will immediately suggest a few accounts for you to add based on your past interactions. Only you can see who ends up on the list of 50 accounts. You will then find all posts and reels sorted chronologically in the corresponding view. In addition, corresponding accounts are also prioritized in the “For You” view. Of course, it also applies here that Instagram remembers exactly what type of accounts you set as favorites. The group thrives on creating profiles of its users and evaluating them accordingly.

Somewhat annoying: Instagram doesn’t remember your desired feed view. So you have to set your preferred view every time you open the app. This may seem user-unfriendly, but that’s how it’s intended. After all, the “For You” feed is the flagship of the platform and the primary vehicle for showing you new content – ​​content that might interest you or that increases engagement on the platform and therefore its value to Meta.

Those who maintain their follow list on Instagram use the app more specifically

On the other side of the spectrum, it can also be helpful to take a closer look at your follows. It makes sense not only to mark your favorites, but also to regularly check who you follow and why. An account that you found interesting years ago may have developed in a different direction, perhaps the content no longer suits you. This is where follow sorting comes into play.

If you tap “Followed” on your profile, you will see all the accounts that you have subscribed to on Instagram. For Sort By, select Oldest First. This gives you an initial overview of who you have been following for a long time and whether it still makes sense for you. You will also see the category “Lessest Interactions”. There you will find the 50 profiles with which you have had the least to do in the past three months. This is also an indicator of which profiles you may no longer need in your follow list. If you check your followed list regularly, you can control what Instagram shows you to a certain extent.

If you want to be really granular, remove all likes and comments from the profiles that no longer interest you before unfollowing. Then they potentially no longer have any influence on what Instagram shows you, which should improve your user experience.