Like many of you, I have been personallyvictimized by Instagram, or should I say the Instagram Algorithm.
Over the last few years, I’ve noticed a significant drop in my impressions, engagement, andnumber of new followers.The reason: Instagram’s 2023 Algorithm. Thanks to the last few updates, only 10% of your followers are able to see your post.
Whenever thealgorithm updated and engagement tanked, my first thought would be, “Why would Instagram hurt themselves by ruining thisexperience for so many users?” or “This is it for Instagram. Time to find another app”.However, I decided to research and understand the reasons behind the changes.Here’s what I discovered:
Instagram’s goal is tomonetize!
Now you might think this is obvious or wonder how changing the algorithm does this, so let me explain. Instagram is a business and must make money, so how do they make money? By remaining one of the most important forms of social media.And how do they do so? By keeping users on their app as long as possible. How do theykeep their users on Instagram? They don’t! We do!Because of this, Instagram favors accounts that can keep their followers as active andengaged as possible!
Below are the easiest ways to keep your audience engaged:
- Reels
- Post Photos
- Post Stories
- Reply to your DMs
- Reply to Comments
- Instagram Lives
- IGTV
- Sharing Guides
Odds are you’re already doing most of these, which is really great! The real question is: how often are you doing these?
Fact: The more time you spend on the app keeping your followers engaged, the more Instagram will favor you.This means you should do a majority of these items listed above eachand every day. Post your photos, reels, and stories daily, go live a few times a week, answer your DM’s as soon as possible, and reply to comments on your latest posts immediately.
If you aren’t doing these things daily, you will not see growth and will continue to feel the oppression of the 2023 Algorithm.
Now that you understand the logic behindInstagram and what theyexpect from you as a user, let’s dive into thespecific tactics you can use to grow your Instagram under the new algorithm.
- Reels are the #1 way to grow fast!In an effort to compete with the video app TikTok, Instagram is now prioritizing video content. And what makes Reels different is that instead of users only seeing Reels from accounts they follow, users see Reels from all Instagram accounts on the Reels tab. So you’re able to reach more people and possibly new followers. Instagram also implemented Reels bonuses where users with interesting/original Reels have the chance to get up to $10,000. Now you might be thinking, “Yeah right. There’s no way anyone will get that.” And I’m here to tell you that it is 100% true because I received the Surprise Bonus Reel of $10,000 on my book account @thebiglittlelibrary. So if you’re looking to grow, IMMEDIATELY start posting interesting Reels.
- When you post, engage/comment back within the first 60 minutes to help drive engagement.Not only will your followers appreciate it but Instagram will boost your post and show it to more of yourfollowers!
- Do not edit your post’s caption or location tag for 24 hours!I’m not entirely sure why but doing such will significantly lower your chances for it to be seen.
- Do not delete your post and repost it.Same reason as above. I’ve done this before and my reposted photo tanked.
- Use all 30 hashtags in a post, but only include 7-10 in the caption and add the rest in a comment.If you use all 30 hashtags in a caption,Instagram thinks you are spamming and will keep yourreach low. Be sure the hashtags you use in the caption are unique and specific to either your brand or what you’re showcasing in the post.
- Share your new post in your stories. This is an easy way to alert your followers that you have a new post. Also, shares and saves are more valuable than likes and comments, so encourage your followers to do so.
- Post more to gain more followers.I know this may seem like a risky option. If Instagram is only showing your content to 10% of your followers, then you’ll risk having lower engagement on posts you’ve worked hard on creating.But here’s why you should post more. When you post more, you will reach a higherpercentage ofpeople daily. For example, if I share two times a day, then I will reach about 20% of my followers instead of 10%. When more people can see your posts, the more your followers will engage. When your followers engageand use the app, Instagram takesnoticeand will share your account with other accounts, so your chances of gaining new followers increases.
- Post less for better engagement.I know I just said to post more. But from my experience when I post less, the reach of my overall post is higher. The reason being that your post has time to circulate. Because of the algorithm, our feeds are no longer in chronological order but catered to what Instagram thinks we want to see. When people follow you, Instagram knowns they would like to view your content. So even if Instagram doesn’t show your posts to a majority of your followers at first, it may get picked up by the algorithm and end up on your followers’ feeds later on. So try waiting a day or two before posting again.
- Geotag popular destinations. The sad truth is that Instagram will show your post to more followers if you geotag a popular destination. Some of these include Santorini, Venice, Barcelona, and Paris; essentially, any location that attracts many tourists or is trending. So if you’re reading this blog post because you want to gain more followers and have better engagement, one simple solution would be to visit and create content in super popular destinations. Some Instagrammers have done this with great success. Personally, I travel to places for other reasons than growing my IG.
Sidenote: I wouldn’t recommend tagging a photo in Santorini that isn’t Santorini. Instagram has recognition software, so I doubt you can fool them.
Other ways you can get on Instagram’s good side is by utilizing new features like storyhighlights, polls, music, quizzes, chats, andfollowing hashtags.
Each time you use a new feature, Instagram sees your interest in the app and rewards you by showing more followers your content.So start following hashtags you like, make Reels, create story polls to encourage your audience to engage, and neatly curate your story highlights so your old and new followers alike can stay up to date with what’s going on in your life. If your highlights are nice looking, titled well, and the stories flow together, the more likely people will continue to watch them.
To read more about how to gain Instagram followers using stories, click here!
Now here’s why the Algorithm is actually a good thing:
- Since your post will only be reaching a fraction of your followers, it’s more important than ever to give your audience a reason to follow along. Now influencers will have to create and share only the best content, as well as become more available to their audiences.
- It’s time to get personal and focus more on creating a sense of community! Say goodbye to the silent influencer, and hello to your new, interactive friend. If you want to have engaged followers and grow a community, then you have to try to develop a real relationship. For example, when someone leaves in-depth comments about your post, try to respond with a question. By doing so, you may learn more about them and increase overall engagement. If someone DMs you, be kind and send a genuine response. Just be real people!
Basically, the new Instagram Algorithm encourages (and forcing others) to be more authentic and personal. So don’t worry so much about the numbers and start focusing on building relationships with your followers.
Hang tight everyone! Don’t lose hope. Just remember,“where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.” – Machiavelli
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203 Comments
AugureAugust 9, 2023 at 1:38 pm - Reply
Meta is killing Instagram like they killed Facebook and the reason is not financial since the stock is predicted to fall precisely because of the 2022 changes and 2023 algos. If the reason is not financial then it can only be political: exactly like on FB, they’re willing to force people out of the app and are destroying the whole chain of value in order to push for asinine but also disinforming content. They do this the way they did it on FB: crush everybody into silence with virtually zero reach (everybody from pros, casuals or influencers I know, had they reach drop to not even 1% and those are the actual official numbers) to push for content that alienate users, isolate people from one another by showing less and less of your posts to them and vice-versa, to make you more susceptible to control to content, and blast people with more and more polarizing content so that when the election comes next year we have the same divided, tense and noisy environnement. They did with FB even if it killed it and slashes usage in half, they’re doing it with Insta now, and are going to use Threads the same way. The reason they do is because their clients are not users but major stockholders, and those are not interested in profit but influence if you know their name, and also because besides TikTok, there’s no SM alternatives for now.
CarolAugust 7, 2023 at 11:18 am - Reply
Or, people could stop trying to chase the algorithms (you’ll never win) and get back to the basics of building a business that have stood the test of time for generations. Your business is not built on likes and followers. It’s built on real relationships that could potentially become clients or referrals. Marketing and social media is about awareness, it does not generate sales. Sales conversations do and those are built with relationships.
MarkJune 29, 2023 at 6:51 pm - Reply
How do you know all this stuff ? you have no idea when Instagram change their algorithm or when they tweak it, and in fact, you may be wrong. I was watching an interview with an Instagram spokesperson about a week ago, and they said they are not favoring videos (Reels) over photos. He did admiot that at one stage, they tweaked the algorithm to favour Reels, but changed it back after many complaints. Part of the problem is people post boring content. I have some photographers who follow me, and when I see new content, it looks just the same as their old content, and so I tend to give it a miss. IN other words, if content is boring, people tend to not look at it .. that’s more liable to affect number of views etc. I post photos of trips around the world, but every photo is different, one photo is the Egyptian pyramids at sunset, the next photo is a Latvian gold palace, the next photo is the Himalayas – in other words, my followers have no idea what I’m going to post. But I have photography followers who post b&w pictures of Berlin every day, day after day, and to be honest, it gets boring seeing the same thing all the time. It’s all about engaging content because at the end of the day, you have no real idea how Insta algorithm works.
Agence web SuisseApril 9, 2023 at 3:36 am - Reply
Great social media article and tips to make a great Instagram SEO and grow your engagement in 2023.
GoreadabookApril 8, 2023 at 2:53 am - Reply
Lol. This has got to be one of THE DUMBEST threads I have ever read. If you spend this much time on social media and worry about it THIS MUCH,, I guarantee you will not feel good in body, mind or spirit. Getting this caught up on social media, engagements, followers, in the toxic world that is social media, you are sadly missing the big picture of what life is truly about and I feel bad for you.
I’d rather spend time with the people that I truly know and care about, than spend that much time engaging with people I don’t know and spend the rest of that time worrying that I’m not doing enough to grow my content/following/audience/brand.
This is no way to live a healthy life. If you are this distracted by social media and social media has this much of a rule over your day to day activities, your personal life, relationships, friendships, marriages, all will suffer. Try working a full time job where it would be impossible to do this, and trust me, you won’t miss engaging on social media with a bunch of over opinionated humans who quite frankly, don’t care about you or what you do. If you think they do, you are quite mistaken. If you were to disappear from their little social media world, they won’t care. They’ll just find another replacement to follow around. But your family, friends, loved ones, they’ll care.
Also don’t even get me started on the keyboard warriors and internet trolls.
JustineApril 19, 2023 at 6:33 pm - Reply
Social media isn’t only a personal platform, people (like myself) use it for business. The more reach and the more engagement, the more potential for clients and sales. I agree, social media can be toxic, but it can also expand your horizons and put you in touch with a broader community. Just another perspective.
Think Before You SpeakSeptember 15, 2023 at 6:46 am - Reply
This article is for people using it to make money. For example, art galleries, illustrators, cosmetologists and tattoo artists use it to attract clients. The key to sales is getting in front of as many people in your target demographic as possible. (My small team of 6 at work averages $1.5 million per quarter cold calling.) A large audience brings in more business.
TrockfieldMarch 20, 2023 at 9:45 am - Reply
It’s hilarious how people are taken in by this and prepared to basically work for Instagram for nothing!
JustineApril 19, 2023 at 6:37 pm - Reply
It’s not for nothing… Instagram is and should be treated like a tool. Think small businesses for example. The more reach and engagement on social media, the more potential for clients and sales. It’s more than vanity (or at least it should be)
Jordyn HayesApril 27, 2023 at 2:06 pm - Reply
I feel sorry for you that you’re so detached and categorizing everyone on Instagram into one big lump of losers. I can understand if you personally don’t care to spend time with these “strangers”, but in my case, these people are my family. I have hundreds and hundreds of followers but they are more than that. I have daily conversations with them, talk on the phone, have met a handful, and share in their joys, beliefs, disappointments and sorrows. Just as I would with other people that I call my friends and family. These people are human beings, they found a place, like I have, to escape from the stress of their lives and jobs to appreciate the beauty, art, see places around the world that we would never have the opportunity to see, and build relationships with friends.
I doubt you will ever see this or that it might sway you to believe not all if us fit nicely into your little box but I was diagnosed with late stage, incurable cancer last year and I’ve gotten more support and encouragement from my IG friends than I have with people I’ve known my entire life. You’re wrong about us being “unhealthy”, I can safely say I’m alive today because of the undeniable and unselfish support I’ve received. These are my people. And you don’t like it, go read a book, no one is forcing you to be online. I still go for daily walks, I care horses, chickens, dogs, cats, goats, go out for dinner, play cards with friends, etc. You shouldn’t make judgments about things you don’t understand. Sure there are trolls, but there are bad people everywhere in the world, not just online. I suggest you try following some people who post content you care about, strike up a conversation and relax. There’s a lot to learn. There’s a lot of amazing and talented people out here!ThinkSeptember 15, 2023 at 6:55 am - Reply
The gallery I ran the social media for was always packed during events because people knew about us thanks to these tools. If you use it for business (or for cute pet content only) it’s not at all like the toxic beauty, gaming and political communities. You have to choose not to engage with toxic content to filter it out. Part of that is thinking about what your posts and content put out there. If you’re negative or touching on controversy at all, the algorithm will filter you to the same content as the trolls.
PattyMarch 13, 2023 at 1:09 pm - Reply
Thank you for the insights. In all honestly, Meta destroyed Instagram reach in the same way it destroyed Facebook Business page reach years ago. Now, if you don’t pay, you don’t get the reach. I, for one, am done with jumping through their hoops. I’ll still use the platforms for awareness, but that’s about all you can expect anymore. It’s time for people to get back to doing business the way we’ve done business before social media.
AmyJuly 22, 2023 at 9:42 am - Reply
I’ve grown over 2700 followers in the last year without paying a single dime, and in in a TINY niche! Half of those followers ended up in my email list, which is now a source of income every week. And all I pay for is my email and website host. I just pivot my strategy every time the algorithm changes, and the growth comes with it. You absolutely don’t need to “pay to play” to turn Instagram into a marketable business tool!
ElijahAugust 31, 2023 at 8:17 am - Reply
2700 in a year really isn’t the flex you are making it out to be. No matter what the niche was back in from 2018-2021 you were able to witness that same growth on a monthly basis while also reaching your entire audience.
There’s no need to defend Instagram as a platform here.
This article is sponsored by Instagram itself and it’s saying “Just post more”. That’s not the case. It’s a pay to win situation now. Feeds are no longer in chronological order and large business take up the upper sections of all feeds now. The platform is forcing its users to post more and more but they no longer get their views in their followers feeds anymore unless you pay for ads.
MargaretFebruary 15, 2023 at 10:59 am - Reply
I started my public account last August (2022) and it took off much more quickly than I expected. Getting the first thousand followers was challenging, but after that it started growing exponentially. It’s been a little over 6 months, and I have 85K followers. I know many of those are bots, but still… I have had terrific engagement in my niche (‘positive aging’) and a good bit of luck attracting sponsorships and collaborations. But now, suddenly, my engagement has fallen off a cliff. I’ve got lots of products to promote – mostly clothes, some beauty products – but my engagement seems to be tanking. This article was really helpful, but I’m concerned. The headline reads “How to Beat the 2023 Algorithm,” but there are comments here from as far back as 2019. Is this article up to date? Have there been changes SINCE 2019 that we need to know about? And guidance would be much appreciated. Thank you!
AngieApril 13, 2023 at 11:06 pm - Reply
Hi Margaret,
I’m glad you find the article helpful. To answer your question, I first wrote an article about the algorithm in 2018 but keep updating it as new updates occur. The last update was January 2023.
OliverDecember 19, 2022 at 4:34 pm - Reply
Thank you for this very informative article. My personal experience is that the more work I put into the posts the less likes and comments I receive. The highest number of likes I ever got was 25. Usually a number of 3-6 likes is the average. For sure I am not a professional photographer but rather someone in the upper amateur league. When I see that some people post mundane stuff with no hashtags, bad composition, out of focus pictures and then get 65k likes for it you start wondering what the heck is going on. IG seems to favor low quality content and half naked girls.
Kind regards from Germany.
CTCDecember 19, 2022 at 6:10 am - Reply
Thanks for hvis i formation. Just maje more sende Why nothing happens on Insta. Think i Will try ti find another Way to marketing.
Whi have the time to be online 24/7 to make a growth? I have been working dedicated and hard on my insta, and every time I get a hold on it. They change it. I has taking me 2 years to grow 450 followers. Refuse to pay other for fake followers. And now only 10 % of your followers/cotumers sees your post. No thanks it’s a waste of time. And we’re it makes benefit for some it Ruins the opportunity for others, if you haven’t got the time to live og insta 24/7.It’s a non workeble app these days. I’ll will look after another. We’re pictures are stil enough and one don’t need to feel everyday life online.
Thanks for this info.
Carlos PerezAugust 29, 2022 at 7:21 pm - Reply
MMMM, just starting with the fact that Instagram decides that 10% of your followers will see your post with LUCK,? jus that ….. it’s abusive. , please let’s not talk about the labyrinthine technological system that the super god called ALGORITHM has as a barrier to being understood, you practically have to open a career at the university called INSTAGRAM ALGORITHM to be able to be seen by your own friends who want to see you… It’s a joke. evidently, Instagram will sooner than later end up with professionals with Instagram degrees trying to sell to each other, normal people like us will change to that app that someone is already developing, and you know why? because people are not stupid. anyway thanks to all and ill leave my INSTA below , hehehehe
Over InstagramMay 17, 2022 at 12:27 pm - Reply
Honestly it’s all 💩 I’ve been a content creator since 2012 and I feel like my account is penalized. It’s not encouraging to create on this app any more and girls with no following come out of nowhere. It’s very frustrating and I feel like my account is dead. Reading this article only makes it seem more pointless to keep creating.
David ParkerMarch 22, 2022 at 6:27 am - Reply
I just recently switched my profile from private to public since I learned that the hashtags you put don’t show up if your account is private. But even after switching, when I go to search the hashtag to see if my post is there, it is still not showing up. I posted a reel the other day and got over 2k views right away. I posted one this morning and it has 12. I don’t understand?
David ParkerMarch 22, 2022 at 6:24 am - Reply
Thank you so much for this post, Angie! Due to my own experience of being victimized, I’ve been doing a lot of research on the algorithm, and this post helped me learn so much more! I’ll be implementing some of the advice!
David ParkerMarch 7, 2022 at 9:04 am - Reply
I feel you girl! One of my pics on Instagram was only shown to 5% of my followers. Like WHAT?!?! Honestly, sometimes just riding out the algorithm wave is the best thing you can do. It will always change but as long as you keep working hard, showing content, and engaging with followers, eventually, we’ll make it out alive!
Krio BamJanuary 1, 2022 at 9:49 pm - Reply
Put simply, “if you don’t pay, you don’t sway”
A well written and insightful article. Thank you.However Zuckerberg’s business model will not begin to work unless you throw even more dollars into his pocket! The sucker punch …even when you do, they tell you that your ad optimisation’s all wrong. Go figure.
BobbiDecember 5, 2021 at 4:08 pm - Reply
Queer female here, and I agree completely!! My IG is for business, and while my followers are still increasing, only now at a snail’s pace, my likes and engagement is ridiculous. I used to average 150 likes per post, now I’m lucky to get 10. I post a minimum of 5 times a day, and people always comment on how informative and helpful my content is. It’s very aggravating. However, I will not devalue or sacrifice my self respect for extra likes/followers. In the community which my content is the most popular, I have definetly noticed less and less clothing, and more skin, along with more focus on certain body parts. I don’t like the examples we are so often seeing. If it weren’t for needing the exposure and engagement for my business, I would have left IG a long time ago. FB too.
Gloria J.July 29, 2022 at 9:05 pm - Reply
Everything about this comment is on point. It’s sad. That this is what it has come to. Nothing about Instagram is authentic anymore and those of us who are authentic are penalized for it… for maintaining out integrity and not falling into the traps that they place in front of us.
MJNovember 5, 2021 at 1:44 pm - Reply
I just recently switched my profile from private to public since I learned that the hashtags you put don’t show up if your account is private. But even after switching, when I go to search the hashtag to see if my post is there, it is still not showing up. I posted a reel the other day and got over 2k views right away. I posted one this morning and it has 12. I don’t understand?
@only1zainaJuly 29, 2021 at 4:12 am - Reply
I had 20.7K followers and I have lost 2K in one month and get 5% of the engagement I used no matter what I do which sux when you consider all the hard work out into growing an account.
This is horrible but this article was helpful thanks. Let’s support each other and follow one another lol.
Kerry RoyJanuary 17, 2023 at 3:05 pm - Reply
Thanks for this information very useful but also proves what an increasingly SAD and kinda frustrating world we are all living in. Once upon a time many moons ago it was government & pro war propaganda controlling people’s motives and minds now it’s social media with its forever changeable Algorithms wanting to control how we should post, how often, if not often enough then don’t bother it seems! As a business owner my works load is often stacked to the max and nowadays we almost need to employee a specific IG, FB graduate to post post post in the correct way…which will then soon change again and again! Take us back to the good old basic days of SM!.
Fotograf nunta PloiestiJuly 2, 2021 at 9:16 am - Reply
Thanks for keeping this post up to date, I’ll be back here from time to time.
AnonymousJune 14, 2021 at 1:21 pm - Reply
Thanks to the OP and all those who took time to share their IG experiences on here. Whether it’s 10 followers or 100k+, it seems everyone has been affected by the FB takeover of IG and its absurd algorithm change up.
SharllahSeptember 29, 2021 at 8:36 pm - Reply
Thank you for this. At this point I am so frustrated…IG is simply not giving my post reach at all. My reach was good before but omg now it’s like 6 ????????♀️ ridiculous I know. But I will definitely be implementing the points you shared here. Fingers crossed I will be sending you a big thank you when this all works!
Terry WattNovember 13, 2021 at 6:59 am - Reply
Facebook is the same. My ‘friends” don’t actually see many of my posts unless they go to my page to see them. Nice of facebook to take over instagram and turn it into basically another facebook. Apparently they just want to monopolize social media and make it all suck. Maybe it’s time to go back to My Space?!
MorticonMay 15, 2021 at 2:53 am - Reply
None of these work lmao, these are the same dusty-ass tips they’ve been recommending since 2017 that haven’t helped anybody experiencing a genuine reach issue. Maybe these help influencers with a pool of 100,000 followers who inevitably get a much higher chance of interaction regardless but this won’t do sh*t to help people who can’t even crack 5k. Didn’t help 4 years ago, won’t help now.
JeffOctober 3, 2021 at 7:28 am - Reply
Absolutely right I have seen around thousands of videos and implemented almost every single trick but not gaining reach and engagements. I don’t know who and why created these algorithms. It takes all your day to create the best content from your side and Instagram destroys in seconds and gives pain for the day. Instagram and its algorithm really sucks.
ThinkSeptember 15, 2023 at 7:12 am - Reply
I’m finishing an advanced degree in the field that designs these algorithms. They’re just charts with basic statistics on each variable. Each time you post the machine pulls up which of the variables your post has, calculates scores based on that, then filters your post to users that are most likely going to spend more time on the site/ap by engaging with it. How many people follow you, view and engage with you content influences that.
Mihai CroitoruApril 7, 2021 at 9:54 am - Reply
I use No hashtags, but geolocation and Two-word title. @the_imprevisible
MHDecember 29, 2020 at 11:25 pm - Reply
I have 2 connected accounts
One acount is for following politics and it got a ban leading up to US election
I created the 2nd acct for biz after that but after about 70 days of posting about 15 times a week I have 45 followers, average 2-3 likes per post
My 3 posts take the best part of a day to create, its high quality content
Seems I’m being penalized in the new acct because of my political opinions expressed in first acct
Are Instagram Metrics All About Your Followers Count and Likes? - HackOwlsNovember 9, 2020 at 6:16 am - Reply
[…] new 2020 Algorithm shows your posts to only 10% of your followers which is proving to be a massive disappointment for its users. If you see your […]
SteveSeptember 19, 2020 at 4:00 pm - Reply
Instagram started to go downhill when they ditched the chronological posting system for “clever” algorithms, well done facebook you’ve tied the noose and slowly drawing out the last breath of IG…
NataliaDecember 10, 2020 at 12:54 pm - Reply
Right! Who has time for this nonsense?! No more quiet contemplative photos which was the whole purpose of IG’s original design. I don’t waste 14 seconds of my time watching wanna be’s video content or gushing over bs in some “carefully curated” post. I hate that I have to know all of this nonsense for work. I cannot wait for the death of this fake empty and meningless nonsense.
AndreaMay 6, 2021 at 11:39 am - Reply
I couldn’t agree more. Great article or not, I am disgusted with myself for putting life aside to get likes and attention from complete strangers. I don’t understand why we feel compelled to expose ourselves in ways that can be detrimental. I take decent pictures, but instead of enjoying them, I’m judging them. Most of the time IG makes me feel horrible about myself. IG has robbed me of precious time I’ll never get back. So I’m thankful to you for this article. It just encouraged me to close my account.
NadobudizamNovember 15, 2022 at 9:04 am - Reply
For the same reason I didn’t post for 2 weeks (or maybe more) because I felt like sh*t and then I post yesterday and you want to know my reach? Two people! TWO PEOPLE! I mean I just started laughing. The post was my artwork about a popular tv show (now it might not be that popular according to IG). It makes me feel helpless and wonder what’s the point. I started my IG account this year in August, I assumed it’s because I am a newbie, but I sincerely feel for people who are there longer and building something just to see it crumble by the new almighty algorithm. It’s almost like censorship.
AnonymousSeptember 7, 2020 at 1:48 pm - Reply
Hello everyone..
First thank you for the information..although I can tell you that nothing but absolutely nothing of the things you say did help..
I have over 150K followers (rippels_paperlover), and I had a nice engagement of likes and no matter what I do the likes have dropped down to 1% of my followers sometimes 1.5 or 2%.
I am not a business, its just my hobby that I am sharing with my followers and I think thats what instagram doesnt like.
I have a nice amount of followers but they dont earn a dime from my account..so they boycot meFun thing is, the first 30 minutes the engagement is how it always was, and then it drops so for example the first 30 min I get 450 likes and the second 30 minutes I get like 30 likes. It used to be around 750 to 1000 in the first hour when I had around 50k people you should think that should be 3 times more with 150k followers.
I thought exactly the same as you did.. whats the point of following someone if you dont see their photos in your daily feed and if we are moving on to a next application they will end up having nothing. But we will just have to take it as they call the shots and they never answer to questions like these!
Have a lovely day
Best MenwNataliaDecember 10, 2020 at 12:57 pm - Reply
You had a lot of bots liking your content before. Your engagement now is your real, actual engagement. It has nothing to do with paud sponsorships – IG hates them because they receive no advertising revenues from them. If you’re not looking to become IG famous, then don’t worry about it. If you’re dying for likes, then pay for sponsored posts. IG will LOVE you then.
AnonymousNovember 2, 2021 at 8:34 pm - Reply
Same for me. Just reached 100k followers (all organic) and everything seemed to tank. Used to have multiple videos reach 100k views. Same videos get about 30k views now. Almost have the same engagement as when I had 5,000 followers. I always used the max number of hashtags, all in my niche. Am going to try dropping down to 5.
Richard CastroSeptember 3, 2020 at 9:47 am - Reply
In recent times, Instagram acknowledged the growing public concern over their algorithm and broke their silence in a series of tweets.
HghfhfSeptember 2, 2020 at 1:58 pm - Reply
My real life friends are no longer seeing my posts, I only have 130 followers and I’m still getting the same amount of likes but they’re mostly strangers. Now I know why,.
AnonymousDecember 16, 2020 at 7:52 am - Reply
Same. I ended up making my profile private but still… my people don’t see.
AnonymousAugust 31, 2020 at 2:16 pm - Reply
Hi, i just read you and i dont know if you can see my message over all these others but, i couldnt find it online, will instagram ever hide likes? i mean they have announced it over a year ago, and they stopped talking about it. i used to get 250-300 llikes easily, but now i have to spend my time to find out how to get those numbers again, cause when your like numbers go down, so does your image.so do you know anything about hiding likes? thanks
Khushboo PriyaSeptember 2, 2020 at 11:14 am - Reply
I really found your post to be Amazing and helpful. But I have a question regarding the geotag popular destination. Since my work is providing online courses, then how can I use geotag destination? Please clarify my doubt. Thanks in Advance!
Charles AmandaSeptember 16, 2020 at 4:03 am - Reply
Thank you for putting out this knowledge. I would start applying it for more followers and engagements.
Jasmine AliciaApril 27, 2021 at 10:20 pm - Reply
Hi,
You can only hide likes if you have a newer iPhone. I have the iPhone Pro Max and it allows me to hide my likes.
AimiAugust 28, 2020 at 2:57 am - Reply
I shall try mixing up my Instagram usage. With the hashtags, does it mean, ‘don’t copy and paste your captions’ every time? Can it be the same hashtags but in different order?
I post similar content a lot so I can’t see myself figuring out other hashtags haha. I guess I will try and post less hashtags too..I used to try and get close to 30.
Although I’ve only got 1.4k followers,, my likes per post from what I am seeing isn’t too bad I guess..I get between 180-270 likes per post.
My main gig is uploading a lot of images of the Japanese countryside, so I guess geotagging isn’t on my side ^^;
By reading this, I realized how important the algorithm was! Thank you so much for your insight.GoldprimaAugust 26, 2020 at 9:03 pm - Reply
Instagram really sucks. Sometimes I don’t really know where the problem is coming from. I have used all available option to me. I use to have about 50 to 70 likes when my followers are around 300 to 500. This drastically reduced to 10 to 15 likes after hitting over a thousand subscribers.
I’m loosing followers every day.
Arslan GhafforAugust 13, 2020 at 9:34 am - Reply
Honestly, I find this concept really good. This was an extremely wonderful post. Thanks so much for this post!! I’ve been doing a ton of research on the algorithm.
QuinnAugust 23, 2020 at 5:25 am - Reply
Another great tip to gain massive followers is to take the majority of your clothing off for your posts, use Photoshop if you aren’t gifted from the Gods, make sure you take a few photos of you traveling the world and post one or two per location. Talk about something meaningless or superficial, promote gimick products and don’t forget to list yourself as a social influencer, traveler, global advocate, model, entrepreneur, star, and then do weekly giveaways for the gimick products you’re advertising for.
Thats usually what I see when I’m on Instagram and people that place their personal value on the number of followers on a phone app. If you’re hot and superficial enough, you can apparently even make Bank off of it. I mean, “influence people.” ????
AnonymousMarch 12, 2021 at 9:59 am - Reply
No one asked you for your opinion. Keep you misogynistic views to yourself.
AndreaMay 6, 2021 at 11:25 am - Reply
If I I hear the word misogynistic again I think I might throw up. First of all, you don’t know if Quinn is a girl or a guy. This is a forum for views and opinions. What you had to offer is absolutely nothing. Quinn (guy or a girl) is at least offering some thing that is relatable and pretty accurate.
PBRNovember 4, 2021 at 10:33 pm - Reply
Except that Quinn’s comment is 110% true … and it applies to both men and women. Unless of course, you only follow cats.
AnonymousApril 1, 2021 at 8:02 pm - Reply
Where’s the lie? Lol — I 100% agree with this. It’s actually complete bullsh*t. This also makes it near impossible for small accounts or new accounts to ever grow. Even with paid ads, boosted posts, etc. you still won’t do well or retain those people that see your content. — The people I see doing well,, of whatever demographic, are the ones basically naked, using a ton of filters or photoshop apps, flaunting random vacations or even just taking other influencers’ photos and captioning them for that destination, and basically promoting MLM products or some terrible quality private label BS from Alibaba. It sucks though because IG and FB are basically “thee” platforms still for social media.
AnonymousApril 26, 2021 at 10:33 pm - Reply
Agreed.
AnonymousAugust 12, 2020 at 8:21 pm - Reply
bye Instagram
Amy JacksonAugust 4, 2020 at 7:58 am - Reply
Hi,
This was an extremely wonderful post. It was definitely informative
Most of the People use Instagram hashtags for more reach and Instagram allows 30 hashtags at one post. There are many tools where you can find your relevant Instagram hashtags
Thanks for sharing!OppyOctober 15, 2020 at 6:31 pm - Reply
Hi Amy,
Please can you advise on the tools to determine relevant hashtags? Thanks.
James HarveyJuly 20, 2020 at 6:48 am - Reply
Wonderful article, Thank you so much for the great and valuable information.
Manoj kumar garwaJuly 17, 2020 at 1:52 pm - Reply
Hi I was having around 400 followers but last night all of the sudden it’s showing 0 followers. If I click on followers in Instagram app it shows all the followers their only, but it’s just the count it is showing zero (0). Should I be afraid that I will loos all the followers or its just a glitch for sometime.
One person followed me right now and its showing that into the list but the count is zero still.
AnonymousAugust 17, 2020 at 10:40 am - Reply
It’s a glich
AnonymousAugust 18, 2020 at 2:04 pm - Reply
So you don’t know why, is what you meant to say.
Rodrigo CanavarroMay 23, 2020 at 5:48 pm - Reply
I have an acount on the car niche and I am doing the follow for follow strategy to see if I can grow a bit faster and I usualy silence the people that aren’t car photographers or car owners. Does silence those people Kills my engagemet?
Samim shaikhAugust 27, 2020 at 3:03 am - Reply
14days deactivated my Instagram account because of shadowban. When i am active my account and again post , hashtags doesn’t reach my any post. I cant comments, earlier i can replay to my followers but now i can’t. When i am posting a picture hashtags doesn’t show my post or caption is missing. I am using 25 hashtag for my each post.and tag also 25 people on caption. Right now i am again action blocked and this happened again and again. Total post i liked in a day 100 to 150. Earlier its 200 to 300 post i liked in a day. Right now my problem is i can’t comment on any post, hashtags doesn’t reach my any post, even i am using 3 day’s earlier hashtags, its doesn’t show my post. My followers 2.2.k and its 8 months old id. Any suggestions please guide me.
ClarkMay 15, 2020 at 8:19 am - Reply
I have to disagree that this effective automatic censorship (and incentivised un-censoring as you jump through all the hoops, using all the new features) can be considered a good thing.
It’s enlightening to get an idea of the mechanisms at work, so thankyou for explaining, but this is all F-ed up if you ask me. I’m no conspiracist, but when you look at what they’re getting us to do, it’s scary. They are truly brainwashing us to perform like monkeys, and all for our “likes”. We tirelessly generate the content, which generates the engagement, which generates their money.
To think that we depend so much on this platform is more than a bit scary. We are completely dispensable and we have absolutely no rights in this system. Any serious user has a frightening amount of themselves (and often their livelihood) invested this platform. I myself am a photographer, and in my industry, you may as well be invisible if you’re not seen on IG. I would estimate at least 80% of my work as come through being noticed on Instagram, often directly.
I’ve seen a number of high-profile names declare that they’re leaving out of principle, only to re-appear a few months later. As much as this system makes their skin crawl, they found themselves SO out in the cold when attempting to walk away, they had no choice but to return, for the sake of their careers. We’re free to leave whenever we like, but the reality is we have all become dependent on this ecosystem, and as such they have a huge power over us.
DHMay 21, 2020 at 9:27 pm - Reply
Thank you for these words. I needed to hear them. Instagram is taking over my whole life and self-image and I’m not even realizing it.
MonikaMay 23, 2020 at 12:52 pm - Reply
Hi Clark – very good point ! @bykulonmonika
Daniel GloverJune 20, 2020 at 2:57 pm - Reply
I have an account and I post tech content.I post like everyday although I don’t post in a few days like 1 or 2 days….Buh I don’t understand why I get likes, and I respond to comments buh no followers.I have about 107 followers buh best post has 67 likes and no one literally followed me
ACEJuly 25, 2020 at 9:19 pm - Reply
People will follow if you like their stuff. For example find your target audiences. Mine are feminists and the body positive crowd (You’ll find more along the way) . Search that hashtag, go to recents and like maybe 50 or so of the most recent posts of each hashtag, be careful not to act like a bot and like all the stuff the people you follow post. I went from 200 followers to 840 in just over 2 months. So I gain roughly 9 followers a day with this method. I post virtually everyday and maybe once a week I hit a plateau where I basically gain 1 follower and lose a follower at an equal rate. However I’m not setting myself up as an influencer, or anything of the sort. I sell my art online and am basically posting product images. So no idea how this method works for that type of account.. If you’re wondering how it works the recent posts have the fewest likes so the people who post them will check who liking their images and visit their page. If they like your content they will follow you. So this doesn’t work if you like the most popular posts because they aren’t being checked with so much detail.
A fun side effect of this is that people might start randomly sharing your context (tagged of course) to their stories, thank these people because regardless of how many followers they have be it 2 or 2000 that’s acceess to their hard work and follower base for free who might never have seen your content otherwise. If you want followers fast on Instagram without paying for bots there is a lot of grind. Again this works for my art page but I have no idea how this might work for fitness posts, influencer posts or lifestyle posts but I can’t imagine it being too different. Also be careful of over liking on a regular basis cuz insta does tell you when you’ve hit the limit and might think you’re a bot. Also if you are a business celebrate milestone follower counts with giveaways. Hope this helps, sorry if it’s wordy and generally a grammatical mess xx
AnonymousJune 4, 2020 at 3:08 am - Reply
This is so true
KatJune 25, 2020 at 3:29 am - Reply
I completely agree with you. IG is so incredibly fake I’m getting so turned off by most of it. I wish we could stop being it’s monkeys.
AnggunMay 7, 2020 at 7:53 am - Reply
I have a problem as well. Before I posted some contents and I can see how many people are shares my post but now I can not see it. The previous content I got many people share it but now the same contents are 0 from 20 to 0. I don’t understand, can anyone can HELP me to ANSWER MY QUESTIONS PLEASE
Fotograf de nuntaApril 12, 2020 at 1:25 pm - Reply
Useful post. I finally understood the Instagram algorithm.
Christin WilliamsMay 17, 2020 at 4:26 am - Reply
I have 28.2 k on Instagram I do a lot of shoutouts but I just noticed my likes not how it use to be is it because I’m doing a lot and drying my page out?
SaurabApril 9, 2020 at 4:26 am - Reply
I was curious about using Instagram Promotion so I did use it. I got more likes. Really more than I thought. My followers are 600 but I got the likes about 900. I had to stop the promotion because I was worried that people will see it as I am buying likes to boost my post but no I didnt buy it. They are real accounts and had liked my post. But sad thing is I have more likes than my followers and worried that Instagram will see it as fake one.
@Papi_00_23May 2, 2020 at 10:09 pm - Reply
Useful advice especially concerning hashtags,
Now I use only 5 hashtags and the results are pretty satisfying.
Additional fact : when I don’t post for a while (few months) the very first post after my absence get many likes, then they drop continuously for the next posts.Jin HanMay 30, 2020 at 4:00 pm - Reply
I really don’t know what happened but when I checked my one of my post last month, it got 0 likes. But when I used my sister’s account, the likes are still there. Anyone who has experience this one? And what did you do to bring back the likes.
Fotograf Nunta BucurestiMarch 8, 2020 at 4:18 pm - Reply
This is super helpful! I’ve learned a lot of new things from this article. Thank you!
Louis HuynhFebruary 22, 2020 at 2:59 pm - Reply
Wow, amazing post and I’m definitely need to grow my page.
AnonymousMarch 5, 2020 at 8:11 pm - Reply
Same here, I’m at a loss on what to do… I switched my profile from private to business then back to business and it completely messed up my engagement. I grow and loose followers overnight, 150-200. It’s like IG is preventing my growth.
Sarah MurphyFebruary 15, 2020 at 6:51 am - Reply
I have done all this but unfortunately my 20k account struggles to get more than 300 likes a post. My last one, yesterday has about 100 so far. I used to have better exposure but for the past 12 months my instagram is just dead and I also keep losing followers… a lot of them, like 30 a day!! I have no idea what to do with my account, I’m a makeup artist I work hard on my post and I’m trying to grow my business but instagram just isn’t what it used to be and no matter how many different things I try it just doesn’t change anything lol. I’m thinking about starting a new account, honestly. Anyone else can relate?
AnonymousFebruary 21, 2020 at 1:59 am - Reply
Same !!! I had 30k followers with a minimum of 1000 likes per post now I struggle to get 300. I don’t get it 🙁
AnonymousApril 18, 2020 at 8:41 am - Reply
Omg same! I have 16k followers but usually I’d only get 200 likes and I’m feeling kinda annoyed about it! I feel like my account is dead! I’m thinking of starting a new account
NicoleAugust 1, 2020 at 3:07 pm - Reply
I feel like they want bigger accounts to buy ads. That’s how they make money and I think that they feel like you’ve gotten enough free outreach now you have to buy some. They’re not expensive.
I also agree they want you to use more features.
I also think if they keep frustrating folks it’s going to bite them when a new app comes along.
D MJanuary 22, 2020 at 12:10 am - Reply
Instagram didn’t do this to condone authenticity or interesting content. They did this because they want to force you to pay for growth and because Zucc is an abhorrent little weasel.
Sam norryApril 7, 2020 at 3:10 am - Reply
I see some account with 1600 followers and and they get 700 to 1000 likes in 2 days . can someone explain this to me . and when you see Professional photographer with 5000 followers is Suffering to get 100 lijes if he’s Lucky … What is the Problem with this Picture ….
Snny2000
Chuck AndersonJanuary 19, 2020 at 2:21 am - Reply
Yes it is very annoying. I have 7000 followers. I engage, post regularly on my wall, do about 6-10 story posts per day, and reply to DMs and comments. I try really hard and only get about 100-300 likes and 300 story views when I was around a 1000+ at 5000 followers. Really discouraging since I run my business on IG
KrampusFebruary 10, 2020 at 5:41 pm - Reply
Firstly for the people complaining with 1K followers and up…please stop.
Secondly I joined a few weeks ago, and despite posting original (Decent) artwork, photographs, and commenting on like minded individuals posts like crazy…I’ve only managed to gain 3 followers, and one is a family member.
I use hashtags, as many as are relevant, seek out other posts with the same hashtags, comment, like…all that BS, and still;
Only 3 followers.
Not impressed with Instagram at all, with twitter at least I’ll gain 10 new followers when I post a new art piece, on Instagram people could seem to care less. I get a comment and maybe like 3 likes, but those people refuse to follow me.
So again, you have 1K+? Be grateful…I’ll probably just delete everything and leave it because Instagram is BS.
GheorgheFebruary 11, 2020 at 10:16 am - Reply
Same here…instagram is no longer suitable for new users. The algorithms are not good thing as this article says. Wait and see when blockchain based and token reward based apps come out. Such as Voice social. The real value of the content people will post will be shown. Try vero true social, no algorithms no data mining no BS advertising! Many succeed on VERO because they know how to use it. Once a slave of the algorithms it’s hard to actually think for yourself…Instagram was great at the beginning. Those that established themselves from the beginning are doing fine. For new users…a waste of energy and time. Most of people that follow, they do it for follow back, like for like. No honesty! I had 1k followers barely 80 likes…that’s barely 1% ????. This hunger for popularity has made people dishonest and careless if people actually like their content or just clicking like with the expectation of you liking and following back…had people blocking me because after they liked 50 posts I didn’t liked anything of theirs…???????? it’s just crazy! I’m a photographer and I like art and photography…I do give likes and comments when I really like something. Why should I like 50 times back to someone that doesn’t even posts photography or content that I’m interested in…? I don’t want to be fake because I’m not a fake person in real life! Keep your eyes open for the new apps ???????? algorithm based and quantity before quality apps will become a thing of the past.
DreadJune 7, 2020 at 10:37 am - Reply
I’ve been drawing for most of my life, I’m not as good as a lot of people on there because I worked other jobs and drew in my spare time. But I am certainly better than a lot of people on there.
All my work is done in charcoal pencil, on size A3 and A2. They are pretty detailed and of course some are better than others when I’m trying new techniques or different paper etc.
My friend from an old job got into drawing when he saw me sat at my desk drawing something. He’s picked it up over the last few years and has a bit of an affinity for small a5 size drawings of cartoon characters.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s come a hell of a way with what he does, and his techniques are really improving.
What I don’t seem to understand is that he posts something and in 12 hours he’s got up to 80 likes within 3 days using 7 generic hashtags.
I post something and the most I’ve got is about 19. I literally spent about 200 hours drawing last month, quality content for people to enjoy. And Instagram decides that my time and effort isn’t worth it.
It’s absolutely effing infuriating!!!
I ran a test last week and posted a new picture every other day. These things weren’t trashy just to get a post out, I really really worked on them for people to enjoy and to try and improve engagement etc.
I used the max number of hashtags, I tried posting them in the description and the comments. Neither of them made a difference.
What’s the point in allowing 30 tags if it’s possibly going to be considered as spam?!
I mean that’s as bad as if it was a law you could buy up to 30 bottles of water, but at any random time the owner could call the police on you if you bought 30.
The actual eff is that about?! What sense does that make. I would’ve thought using all 30 would push you up the viewers chart rather than being penalised for it.
In the end I’m just going to keep posting maybe once or twice a week now. I’ve pretty much given up trying to get any type of commission work from there because I’m just getting drowned out by complete BS and promoted posts through share pages.
Sorry, but I’m not paying a page for someone to promote my work if I’m following the steps that should be generating my own following.
I sorely hope that another platform comes along with better morals than Fart f*ckerberg, the spinless snivelling data mining reptile.
AnonymousSeptember 16, 2020 at 5:21 am - Reply
So true! I started a new account recently and it’s not the same. I’m not an influencer, just sharing my nature photos and appreciating others’ content that is similar. None of them ever follow me back, and most of my posts have zero likes. Doesn’t seem worthwhile. Instagram is becoming inundated with tik tok sh*t now as well. Nobody on it appreciates art so I’m going to figure out an alternative.
SacksJanuary 12, 2020 at 11:00 pm - Reply
I have an account that I opened in 2012 and I have 400 followers. I had around 800 followers but I deleted the inactive ones. Mine is a street photography account and when I post I get around 60 likes to 100 likes which is not terrible but I opened a test account recently which has 4 followers and when I post the same content there I get 12 to 20 likes off 4 followers. Using the same 30 hashtags. How does this make sense ? Another thing is on my first account from 2012 I really battle to get new followers. It’s kind of like my account is invisible. I think maybe because it is an older account that wasn’t used a lot for some time Instagram gives it less exposure. And it isn’t shadowbanned. Any ideas? @sacks
AnonymousDecember 18, 2019 at 7:07 pm - Reply
This is insane, makes me feel like I’m just posting trashy content, my followers list keeps growing but my engagenets and likes per post are going down, no matter that I do, I´ve tried paying for more visibility but only get the likes I used to in that specific post, nor my page neither my other posts get more attention, and even some followers tell me that my posts never appear on their TL for days, unless they enter to my homepage, this app is slowly becoming another facebook page where popularity based on appearance, instead of quality content
Rukku SumayyaNovember 12, 2019 at 1:43 pm - Reply
It is really frustrating I swear. I have a fair amount of followers, but no engagement like old days.
Menw HurkensNovember 28, 2019 at 11:20 am - Reply
Hello, as I seem not able to post a comment on my own..I just reply to yours..
I have 138K followers and I am very engaged with the app every day.. My likes and views dropped tremendously, it isn’t 10% by far..so apparently I am doing something wrong in the eyes of instagram.
The only thing I don’t do is answering the enormous amount of DM’s with questions that are also in my text or just ones whit Hi and ?? and simply stupid stuff. To be honest there are a lot of them ☺Is there also known that if you do all the mentioned tips above, if you get back to the numbers before? and how long does it takes?
I just don’t get it, the point of this app is that you can see the content of the one we like to follow…it’s a shame that this isn’t the main goal anymore!
Best Menw (@rippels_paperlover)
AnonymousOctober 17, 2019 at 7:23 pm - Reply
Really helpful!!!
AnonymousSeptember 16, 2019 at 4:36 pm - Reply
I used to check out the accounts of those who posted likes on my photos. I enjoyed discovering people and their work. Now I don’t know about them and they don’t know about me – what’s the point!
I am now bored by the scroll – like we’re all sitting around watching commercials on t.v. – which no one is doing either.
It’s called ‘Social Media’, not ‘Commercial Media’ – though I guess commercial media is what it really is. Glad I didn’t put more work into it than I did.
jkeaycApril 17, 2020 at 5:35 am - Reply
Been a long time user of IG to see cool stuff other people are doing. I’ve posted random stuff over the years and get some likes. Now the year (2020) I have a message to share, the go and change the app to where no one is seeing my message. I’m not a business who can pour time and money into “staying engaged” all day to get more people to see my posts. Damn you IG and thank you to the author of this for giving me an answer to my frustrations with IG.
Jack SchulzAugust 15, 2019 at 4:58 pm - Reply
I don’t have the time and /or desire to make instagram a full time job. I have never gotten a new customer from instagram, I get at least 2 a week from just google searches. Yea, pretty nice feeling when everyone likes my photos, but that’s gone now, and without commiting 10 hours a day to an app that gets me nowhere it’s going to stay gone. So, I’m gone.
MikeAugust 12, 2019 at 6:52 am - Reply
I have 1k3 fl but only around 30 like each post , i dont know why , anybody can help me to fix that :(((
Eriq WalkerOctober 7, 2019 at 10:41 am - Reply
Not sure what your strategy is but what works for me is:
– get REAL followers. It’s likely, from what you’re saying, that most of your followers are just bots that don’t like any of your pictures.
– like and comment on other’s posts. A lot. Especially focus on you followers and those that like YOUR posts.
– relevant hashtags are nice to have. If you have good, real, engaged followers hashtags bring you extra bonus likes and new followers.I have 4k followers and get 250 likes per post on average. Not huge but happy with it.
FirAugust 7, 2019 at 1:25 pm - Reply
Im badly affected by this change in algorithm. Im pretty frustrated that I have to keep boosting my post to get the likes going. I don’t think its fair to us to keep wasting our money on promoted post.
Perhaps its time to find an alternative. Whats frustrating is there are other accounts that don’t seem affected by this algorithm change and keep enjoying the likes.DeborahSeptember 18, 2019 at 9:28 pm - Reply
It’s awful. I have 1,500 followers and at times get 17 likes. It’s so frustrating, and deflating and honestly confusing. Makes you doubt yourself and or the things you like. Makes you wonder “wow am I really this boring?” Mean while, I see other new accounts just growing daily. 800 followers and getting 300+likes. All while getting at least 5 followers daily. Mind you our accounts are not that different yet my posts seem to get little to no recognition. This all started happening after I took the bait of the $30 credit to post whatever I wanted. Then I paid a few times for promotion and after that, all went straight down. I can’t figure it out but I’m betting they’re dropping my reach sobtgat I’ll get desperate enough to pay.
Jennifer AllbaughJanuary 24, 2020 at 1:19 pm - Reply
Instagram makes money selling your data. We sat across the table and watched their executives lie bold face to our faces. We found their employees extorting people who were vulnerable for their profiles. We are preparing a huge class action lawsuit against them.
SB ownerMay 16, 2020 at 7:51 pm - Reply
Post the class action suit when you do. We’ve been wondering when someone will get that started. At the time when the algorithm was working for the content creators, we spent $10k in IG advertising. I obsessively watched the followers come in and they were real, and on top of that they were interacting with our page. Right after they switched the algorithm, we felt like they had stolen our money. This can dramatically hurt a small business, and I know it has hurt others. Thieves.
AnonymousJune 20, 2020 at 11:49 pm - Reply
I am gone because of the same reason, I am tired of wasting money there. This platform right now is designed for idiots. As well invested a lot of money on promotion and all my followers were real. Noone saw my posts later. Thieves.
Greg MilsteinAugust 7, 2019 at 11:14 am - Reply
Good information and yes it’s important to interact with your followers early and often. But 90% of what we read about Instagram is just guesses as most people don’t really know. Aso if you have a tiny account (under 10k) then it’s harder to read how these things affect you.
1. I have gone back and forth between business and personal with absolutely no major effect to my following or engagement.
2. It doesn’t matter where you place hashtags!
3. Even with the new algorithm, I still clock in 1000 new followers per day. Either you have the reach to drive the numbers or you don’t.
4. The new restrictions are far more damaging than the algorithm. Bikini pics are no longer visible on explore pages. So if you’re a beach clothing brand then your reach is officially dead on Instagram.
5. Instagram will now demote and hide your posts if there is the slightest skin showing, even if your content is non sexual and stays within insta guidelines. Even if that content is artwork!!
6. #1 way to grow on Instagram is creating your own visibility , insta won’t do it for you.
7. You must collaborate with other pages to be seen. You must get your content featured by bigger accounts who post similar subject matter. The old “shoutout for shoutout” is the secret sauce here”
8. 10% of 100k is still 10,000 pairs of eyeballs.MansonOctober 18, 2019 at 1:50 pm - Reply
I’ve noticed a lot of you have 2k or under. Allow me to reassure you accounts bigger than that are being affected as well. I have 33k followers and used to get over 100k views on a video at least twice a week, and now I’m lucky to get 20k views!! This algorithm hit me HARD! It is insane! It destroyed so many accounts. I was so happy and almost at the point of being able to sell merch, then this happened, and now that the merch is finally available, no one is buying it. When before I had a bunch of followers begging for it. This sucks…
JoodaMarch 15, 2020 at 8:25 pm - Reply
My page is getting better now before nobody knew me but after I changed my idea about contents, my page developed remarkably. The idea is the followers need to see different content even it was simple, every post has to be different as much as you can. @jooda25
DonaldJuly 22, 2019 at 4:23 pm - Reply
Nice guide Angie! Instagram seem to have made some huge changes in June which has destroyed in engagement (sitting around 6-8% now as opposed to 10-12%). Have you encountered the same?
MarkJuly 20, 2019 at 2:06 pm - Reply
I am not big instagrammers, but noticed that, I got less likes, one-tenth, as so fars!
OlgaJuly 14, 2019 at 5:54 am - Reply
Hi there! First of all, thanks for all the hard work and info!
I was curious though, has anyone tried switching back to private account from being a “business” account? Will it help with engagement? Or will it stay the same since you were already a business account once? Any info on that matter would help.
I have about 800 followers and usually get around 130-150 likes. When I was private I only had 500 followers and was getting around 170 likes…DelilahJuly 22, 2019 at 12:20 pm - Reply
I think it’s time for us Humans to realize that we are dealing with a Machine and there’s nothing much we can do about its functioning. We cannot be spending our time (and money!) on this Machine if it ain’t paying our bills. I refuse to let this Machine stress me or control what I do and I decided to use it as a diary /journal where I write and post things relevant to ME without worrying about how many people see it (most likely not many and it’s okay lol) . I also use it as entertainment and source of information and that’s about it. I have been on IG for way too long (and experienced shadowbanning a couple of times already) to expect any positive change regarding “engagement” or “followers” . IG is about making money. When they see that you are trying to promote yourself “freely” in their platform they let you know straight up that’s its not about to happen lol. Like I said it’s a Machine, we can’t fight against its algorithms. However we can decide to leave it alone and start focusing on things and people that matter in REAL life.
JennaJuly 26, 2019 at 3:00 pm - Reply
YES. Switching back to a personal account(Not private) is key. Business accounts are given less visibility because they want you to buy ads. Instagram will never admit this of course, but we’ve had multiple friends switch to business – engagement killed – switch back to personal, and then after about a month or so of putting in the engagement effort on personal, the engagement shoots back up. Just browse at people’s business accounts vs personal and you’ll see that unless accounts are paying to boost their posts, their engagement ratio is almost always lower. You’ll see a business account with 30,000 followers getting like 400 likes, and a personal account with 30,000 followers getting 1,000 likes. And the business accounts, when they pay for ads, the organic drops off even more if they stop paying. And we actually experienced that our actual paid eds got less effective. Like if we spent 20 bucks, we’d get 800 likes, then a few posts later we spent 20 bucks and only got 400 likes. The point is that Instagram is trying to hook you into a cycle of needing to pay more and buy more. Don’t do it. Have your account as a personal account and build organic engagement through interaction – liking, commenting, etc. and your account will do way better.
julianaAugust 13, 2019 at 6:03 am - Reply
what about a creators account?
rabihJanuary 2, 2020 at 8:30 am - Reply
hi there…check the feedback of Greg, he might answer your question, few comments before yours.
SaraJuly 12, 2019 at 1:16 pm - Reply
This is a very good article. Thank you taking the time to share.
Buuuttt…..it stresses me out. Lol. I am sure many ppl would agree with me that they don’t want to live on IG, or become an IG expert and make it their “job”. It should be fun for users,and now it feels like a chore. ????
Bummmer!
I will be sharing this article on my FB page.AnnJuly 9, 2019 at 2:40 pm - Reply
Thank you for this helpful post. I didn’t know Instagram started limiting page reach to 10% of followers, and now it all makes sense to me. I was honestly worried sick and stressed, because I wasn’t getting the same engagement I used to and it doesn’t appear that I’m shadowbanned. Not only that, I’m actually losing followers. I think I’m just going to control myself and put less effort and time into my posts. It’s not worth it, since not a lot of people see it anyway.
Clandestine MarinJuly 2, 2019 at 2:35 pm - Reply
Hi, thanks for the insight!
I’ve been reading on this subject and still don’t understand why, very suddenly, without changes on my routine, my audience dropped completely.
I used to get 10-20 likes from complete strangers and now only followers see my content. Have you got any idea on why?+ I post almost every day
+ I answer comments
+ Used to tag a lot but since this happened use very few tags
– Use instagram with an extention and not from phone
– Don’t use stories or any other featureAngieJuly 3, 2019 at 2:39 am - Reply
A great way for strangers to see your post is by using hashtags. Not sure if you’re already using them but make sure to switch them up and test posting them in the caption vs the comments to see what works best for you.
TeeshNovember 2, 2020 at 6:28 am - Reply
I did this and my reach was 6x my normal however there was no real change in my likes or followers. Ive had more followers added with far less reach..been here scratching my head all day as to what I am missing
AngieJuly 3, 2019 at 2:41 am - Reply
Also, there was a recent update in the algorithm and many have noticed significant decreases in engagement.
DeborahJuly 9, 2019 at 2:41 am - Reply
Hi. I made the mistake of promoting on IG. It has plummeted my engagement, likes, followers tremendously. That was in May. I only promoted maybe 4 times. It wasn’t an immediate drop but definitely noticeable enough to know my acct was affected by the promotion. But as of the last 3 weeks it’s disheartening drastic. I used to get 150 likes. Now I get 27. I’ve noticed its all around though. With some of my followers and people I follow as well. Mean while I notice young accounts (500 followers) who use hashtags that are unfavorable or unrelated that are getting 200-400 likes. Why is that? Also how can I shake off this issue with my account after promoting? Start a new account??? I’m so frustrated.
Thank you.AngieJuly 9, 2019 at 5:51 pm - Reply
Hi Deborah,
There’s been a new update to the algorithm (updated in June) that has everyone stumped. I have a feeling that’s why you’re noticing such a drop these last 3 weeks. Honestly, I’m in the same boat along with a lot of other people. I’m not sure what the solution is, but I do know that IG does favor new accounts so maybe testing out a new account isn’t a bad idea. However, like all apps, they do fade out and I see IG going down that path soon. So I personally wouldn’t invest more time into it, especially if it’s not related to your job. However, if it is, I’d find another platform like twitter or even your own website to share your business.
LuisJuly 1, 2019 at 10:29 am - Reply
Hi swetie! I have an aged account (more than 10K followers) and I was a victim of the new limits Instagram’s deploy on 4th June. Since that, my Stories visualizations drops to half, as well as my engagement. Do you have an idea of how to recover the visualizations and engagement?
Best regards
AngieJuly 3, 2019 at 2:43 am - Reply
Hi there! Getting engagement on stories has been difficult lately. I would highly recommend using hashtags in stories and using the location tag for starters. But most of all, posting interesting, personable stories will keep your followers coming back for more on a daily basis.
Dan KolisJune 28, 2019 at 7:26 am - Reply
Thanks for the good post! From my own experience I will say that there are many ways to grow your instagram. I have been using the Igramer for a some of months and now for me this is the best I’ve tried. This app has all the newest features and all that are described in this post. I think it’s good way!
JessJuly 4, 2019 at 4:15 pm - Reply
Hello,
I’m having the same issues – what is this Igramer app you mention, I cannot seem to find it on the App store?
Thank you!
JuliaJune 28, 2019 at 6:57 am - Reply
Hi Angie,
I have a very small, fresh account (less than 2 months, 100 followers and 11 posts). My posts 1-10 were doing good with 5 of them being above 100 likes. The last however has got a message below “This post is doing better than 95% of recent posts. PROMOTE to get ti wider audience,” It has only about 60 likes, no more followers and many people who already followed me couldn’t seee it on their feed. It has never happened before. Have you heard about it before? What can I do now? If it stays like that my account can never grow. I keep up with my followers, comments and some who couldn’t see my post always got angaged. I do not understand that…AngieJune 28, 2019 at 2:15 pm - Reply
Hi Julia,
The message under your post is just Instagram trying to get you to spend money on your posts. I’ve received this message a few times – it ranged from my posts doing ‘80% – 95% better than previous posts’. I never promoted them though because I’ve heard from other people that once you start to pay Instagram to promote posts, your engagement drops tremendously and relies solely on engagement through promotion. You don’t want that. So I just continued to post like I normally would.
The best way to grow especially when you have a newer account, is to post daily and use hashtags. You want your account to become established and that can only happen if you have more posts. So I could encourage you to post more often and keep engaging with your followers they way you have been. Growth on Instagram is slow, so be patient for a few month.
DeeJuly 3, 2019 at 9:17 am - Reply
Hard to beleive this when I see so much bad content getting 1k likes especially when mine is better… I noticed my account suffered immediately after I tried so hard to grow it and finally started getting momentum, once 2019 hit.. So far I’ve tried everything and read so many articles but idk.. Used to get 100 likes and I’m lucky if I get 40…oh also I noticed my account died right after I used Instagrams credit to promote a post…. Business accounts kill growth…
allan lambJuly 20, 2019 at 4:40 am - Reply
I’m seeing alot of trash content go viral doing nothing special it terms of all these so called tricks to beat the algorithm, The dont start particularly well either so I dknt believe e quick engagement is the key either. Mine used to do the same every post. Dropped from over 100k reach to under 10k for liturally no reason after the update. Ive had a few posts smash it for 24 hours and just die so no idea what the thing is that makes a post get engagement for like a week, even when mine was before June inhad no idea why. Mines gone up and down a few times but never this bad or for this long but I’ve seen accounts that were basically dead now smash it.. so it can flip back I guess.
DavidJune 25, 2019 at 9:55 am - Reply
Wow! Thank you for putting the wind back in my sail! I noticed a massive hit and was a bit curious why. However, i am doing everything that you say and also would love to see the silent influencers take a hit (sorry to wish ill will). I don’t want to be a hater, but it’s hard to see content get massive love only because they were early on the platform. I respect their intelligence on being an early adapter, but I think growth should also be possible for new comers with good content
LauraJune 17, 2019 at 8:14 pm - Reply
Hi Angie,
Instagram deleted one of my photos of an art installation that contained an image of a naked woman (as instagram is owned by facebook, I assumed that they had the same TOC’s as facebook, which allows naked images if they are an art piece, or protest), and since then my reach has dropped substantially.
This, however, happened around the same time as the new algorithm was implemented, so am not sure if my reach has dropped because of the change, or because of the image being deleted, or perhaps both? If it is because of the image being deleted, then is there any way to get back on the good side of instagram???
Thank you
AngieJune 18, 2019 at 3:31 am - Reply
Unfortunately, it might be a bit of both. The issue might be that some people reported the image so IG took it down which marks you. When people file complaints that say you’re not following the guidelines, it can negatively impact your reach. I know that sucks because it was art but I’ve seen that happen so many times. The best thing you can do is to keep posting and trying to make your audience (even if it small now) engage. Once they engage more, reach should go up and so should the rest of your impressions. However, I do think Instagram is spiraling downward and may never recover. These next 6 months will really be a tell as to what role Instagram plays in social media.
AnonimoJune 17, 2019 at 6:25 pm - Reply
Ok its june 2019 and I feel IG is going to be soon dead.. Its not gynamic anymore so much fake profiles etc your content does not get to ur folowers.. Im out Im posting good content that last year had 30 likes at least and I get 2 now. Like everyone says.. Im. Not going to live in IG 24 and engage in pointless comments just to raise my profile. Im out
Maureen AladesuruJune 9, 2019 at 1:17 am - Reply
I have been blocked from sending DMs for the past 1month on my business page now. How do I solve my problems
AngieJune 10, 2019 at 3:08 am - Reply
Unfortunately, I’ve never come across this problem so my only advice would be to contact Instagram by reporting a problem.
GenMay 31, 2019 at 12:55 pm - Reply
Hi Angie!
Thank you for this! I unfortunately have deleted and reported before. Just the other day. And sometimes I copy paste my hashtags to save time. My last two posts have tanked (the repost one and a brand new one), and I’m wondering if I’ve now been “written off” by instagram. Is there a way I can fix this or do I have to start a whole new account?
KaranAugust 1, 2019 at 11:50 pm - Reply
Hi Angie,
I used to use follow unfollow , but during that time my post like was around 700, but after I stop the follow unfollow (from June), I only get around 250 -300 Like now! But my followers is still growing and I used the suggestion you said in July , but my Post like and engagmeent dropped so bad!Do you suggest to remove some ghost followers ? Or change it back to private account ? Or any other suggestion ?
Thank you so much ????????????
AnonymousOctober 19, 2019 at 9:01 pm - Reply
Follow unfollow is soooo lame. There are apps that track your followers so this method is no longer a secret. When people follow me i wont follow back in the first 48 hours to see if they stick around. If their content is good then after 2 days I may follow back. Also if i see that an accounts following is far greater than the amount they follow i know they are the dreaded follow unfollow.
Furnon Dawkins aka Zaria DknsMay 21, 2019 at 4:09 am - Reply
Is it true that you can’t follow more than 7500 accounts on Instagram or you’ll start having problems? I follow quite a few more and lately I’ve had the problem of either my posts not posting to the hashtags I’ve selected or instagram saying I’m not following accounts that I know I am following! Mines is a pet account and the accounts I follow are almost exclusively pets! It would be really uncool to have to unfollow any. Your advice would be greatly appreciated!
AngieMay 27, 2019 at 11:31 pm - Reply
I believe the limit is 7500. Your posts might not be making it to the hashtag page because you could be “shadow banned” or perhaps the hashtags you are using have millions of tags so yours gets pushed down. Shadow banning can happen when you use too many hashtags, get flagged by IG (could be a number of reasons, from someone reporting you or you liking too many posts in a day so they think you’re using a bot). Regarding the other issue, I’m not sure why that is happening. I suggest you report the issue to Instagram. It could be a bug in their update and the may be trying to fix it. I hope some of this help! Please let me know if you have any other questions.
CHRISApril 29, 2019 at 11:47 pm - Reply
Great post. I run a clothing brand and realised that our likes and engagement had been dropping recently. Thanks for the advice!
ShaneApril 24, 2019 at 6:34 pm - Reply
Great for influencers that can spend every second with their phone, but it’s a pretty crap thing to do do the average person to limit their view to only 10% if they only post a few times a week. I have a full time job, and honestly, it irritates me for some of the people in my feed – that post multiple times a day. It’s one of the reasons I bailed on FB! Because when I would decide to post something relevant, (even on groups I created), I would get 4 views in a group of thousands! WHY BOTHER?? That’s not social. It’s just paid media! I appreciate your efforts, and this article was definitely informative, but what I read (for my posting style) is that no more than 10% of my followers will see my posts. Thanks social media monopoly!
TheAnimejunkyJune 16, 2019 at 2:32 am - Reply
I post daily sometimes twice a day, I’m very active with my followers and I even chat with some of them on a daily basis plus i post a lot on my stories. I notice that my post only goes on the explore page from 20 to 300 times per post. It use to average 1500 to 4000 a post :/ I don’t know what to do tbh….
SarahApril 23, 2019 at 6:32 pm - Reply
This was so helpful and encouraging! Instagram has been so frustrating for me with my business lately and this sheds a lot of light on the situation. Thank you for writing this!
Nellie AMBROSEApril 20, 2019 at 5:38 pm - Reply
This is so helpful, thanks! Time to get to work! 🙂
AnonymousApril 8, 2019 at 12:14 pm - Reply
This is the most helpful post I’ve seen on the new algorithm yet! Great work
nadineFebruary 22, 2019 at 8:31 pm - Reply
Thank you for the refreshing article that actually lists helpful info… rather than what everyone already knows and has heard 1000 times. For the first time in about 6 months I’ve learned some stuff. Thank you!!
AM MartinFebruary 17, 2019 at 9:57 pm - Reply
I’ve grown to hate Instastories as 90% are now shared posts where other people hash tagged them. I seriously don’t care to see all the people who read your book, are doing your fitness challenge, etc. I’m following because the IG’r had something of interest to me.
AkashFebruary 7, 2019 at 2:13 am - Reply
Instagram deleted my post now I’m not getting enough likes and followers what should I do now
RavigJanuary 22, 2019 at 1:27 am - Reply
Thank you so much! I was losing sleep and finally quit the instagram. 🙂
HanaJanuary 12, 2019 at 1:45 am - Reply
Evil Instagram. I’m so glad i searched about the matter and ended up here, at least Google is still staying helpful. Like many said here i’ve been recently more active and putting way more time and effort into creating content i hope to make a living out of, that is sharing my art. It was getting so discouraging seeing how my new posts were getting much less view while it was so not like that with the posts i used to create back in 2016. Sadly i was inactive for a while before i decided to really go down the road of art and came back in last June which was a perfect timing smh 😐 Thanks for the very helpful article. Now at least i know the viewing problem isn’t exactly my fault. I won’t be victimized by IG. Looking for a new platform, hope new social network developers see their opportunity.
JeffreyDecember 30, 2018 at 11:46 am - Reply
Thank you – I’ve been having quite a problem and don’t want to sound like a wimp but pretty despondent. Seems like the harder you try…. you know – the worse it gets ? Pretty sure the content is at least …?? Good? Think I’ll use more features and lay off the 30x hashtags. Good luck with your travels and say hi if you’re in Sydney ?
CyanMay 16, 2019 at 8:00 am - Reply
I agree that this article does well at showing what Instagram has actually done with the algorithm, but it is NOT helpful or good AT ALL!
It might be good for people who post pictures of scenery or of themselves, but NOT FOR WORKING ARTISTS like myself and so many other people I know, it’s destroying their businesses because they can’t post more than once a day, or less than that, and almost all their followers don’t see their art which took hours or days to finish!!!
I’m definitely moving sites, because I can’t afford to try and build a following if Instagram is going to be kicking me in the teeth and shielding my audeicne from seeing it.
Linda BobkovaJuly 24, 2019 at 9:51 am - Reply
Hello, Thank you for your opinion.. I fell it the same.. Absolutely lose my believe and trust in instagram, I worked hard 7 months on my account and now hesitate to continue..
EDecember 29, 2018 at 2:52 pm - Reply
I need help… I went from getting 10-50 new followers a day and 30-70 likes to losing 10 a day and gaining o my 5… now I gain nothing… I’m looking to leave insta but I remember how fun it was for a while… I’ve had an account 4 weeks… was gaining 100 followers a week and now it’s just dead… dying… horrible… so much anxiety and disappointment
Gina CoolDecember 17, 2018 at 7:01 pm - Reply
Wow new to Instagram here but I got feeling is that toying with algorithms however they want to… as they have a monopoly to do, makes it really easy to censor. And control people. Must be because politically speaking it was such a surprise when Donald Trump got so successful through tweeting. What is another platform people can use?
ChrisDecember 11, 2018 at 5:52 am - Reply
Thanks for your insights, Angie!
I searched for an answer because my reach has been only about 5% for the last few months.
The good thing is it’s not me.
The bad thing is it’s not me.
If it was, at least I could do something about it.
From seeing the other comments, this is really bad!
So what’s the right thing to do?
Former insta userDecember 6, 2018 at 2:42 am - Reply
Instagram is such a disappointment now. Why gain followers if only a few people are going to see your posts? Really? Simply un-fun. Such a poor business move on IG’s part. Many big influencers I followed last year have just quit all together. I really miss seeing posts in chronological order, it felt like I was apart of something special now it’s just dumb repetitive posts from days ago. How is that Insta? I call BS on the money greedy wannabes. When Coca-Cola came out with New co*ke, everyone hated it. co*ke just keep selling it even though there company was losing customers daily. They finally saved themselves by listening to customers and bringing back the old co*ke (classic co*ke) and what do ya know they are still in business. With IG’s blatent arrogance , ignoring users complaints, it’s on such a decline that I can’t get any friends or family to stay on it to check out my posts. They just say, sorry I don’t like Instagram anymore, the new algorithm made it dumb. Thanks for shooting yourselves in the foot IG, Guess now we will just watch you fall. Please someone come up with a better photo sharing site or app, and mention it here. Maybe I should also mention I bought FB shares just after it went public and most likely dumping them next week . I do not like it when companies refuse to listen to complaints and My friends are like “why do you own that?” Sorry just can’t own it anymore. Get it together IG. Everyone thinks your algorithm is bogus- even your shareholders….. duh.
YaDecember 4, 2018 at 11:39 am - Reply
I am doing all of this and and since last Tuesday my reach dropped by half. Which is really frustating as less people see my posts. Any idea ?
AngieDecember 4, 2018 at 5:08 pm - Reply
I’ve noticed the decrease in engagement as well these past 2 weeks. Usually, it’s a new update with the Algorithm that causes the drop so I’m doing more research. However, sometimes I’ve noticed posting at different times and using brand new hashtags can help pull me out of a funk, so, for now, I would try that. If the engagement is still low in a week or two, it’s most likely a new update and we will have to figure out what has changed and the best way to work with it.
VictoriaNovember 27, 2018 at 11:34 am - Reply
Thanks so much for this post and all the tips. It has really been getting me down lately thinking my content isn’t good enough and I was about to give up but after reading your tips, I am going to hang tight and battle through xxxx
AngieNovember 30, 2018 at 4:55 pm - Reply
So glad to hear you’re going to keep trying! 🙂 It can be so discouraging but this is a good time to focus more on the content and forming a community instead of likes and comments.
DarrenNovember 14, 2018 at 7:12 pm - Reply
I’m getting 100% of the post’s of accounts I follow. So hopefully they gave up on the 10% algorithm. But I did get smacked by the not responding to comments within the hour algorithm, ruined a really good trending post. I will be more prompt to reply in the future. Thanks for the tips!
SamNovember 7, 2018 at 1:41 am - Reply
This is all bullsh*t. No I’m not going post everyday, no I’m going like everyone’s page, comment etc etc. not a teenager nor do have time. This new algorithm is solely based on directing users to posts in which Instagram profits from. All other users have taken a back seat. With 20k followers, and a reach of 200-300 views. This company has definitely taken a turn for the worse.
DougDecember 3, 2018 at 7:32 pm - Reply
Yes! Terrible, terrible “advices” – hey, loose way more time on a stupid app doing things you don”t want to normally do in order to increase your “numbers”. LOL,, people, spend quality time in real life, not trying to show yourself in a better manner by getting more likes.
Jasen HudsonOctober 30, 2018 at 7:53 am - Reply
This is something I’ve been doing, and it’s seriously worked. Great advice! I
HeidiOctober 16, 2018 at 8:22 pm - Reply
Thank you this was such great timing! I have been playing around with some of the things you mentioned. I hate always having to figure out new strategies every time they change!!
TinaOctober 5, 2018 at 11:20 pm - Reply
1. A bunch of creators should email Mark Zuckerberg and / or Facebook owners who took over Instagram with specific details such as those shared in these comments. Facebook seems to be a dying social media network. I’m afraid Instagram may be on it’s way out if they keep it up. They need to see and be aware of content creators’ very adverse experiences with the new changes, and the thoughts to look for another platform to move to. Spurning dedicated content creators as has been described in the posts above, and their followers by not showing content to them of the accounts they follow is a huge incentive to say goodbye to Instagram, as soon as another option becomes available. If they are smart business people, they will stop hurting the platform’s content creators and content followers that way.
2. Someone should create another social media platform other than Instagram and advertise it hard, so content creators and their followers can jump ship.
RyanNovember 6, 2018 at 5:40 pm - Reply
Wow! So right on with this comment. Took the words right out of my mouth. It has become so obvious the only reason IG changed the algorithm is to monetize through advertising. I think they are sending it straight to it’s death. People are so frustrated there is no reason it even use the platform anymore. There is a large gap opening for the next big social platform!
OwenSeptember 8, 2018 at 11:41 am - Reply
Thanks for the article. I too have very low reach after instagram’s changes. I have all but given up. I still post but I’m totally disappointed with the current situation. I am a very busy person and do not have time to sit on instagram liking, commenting etc. I’m not getting paid by instagram for that. That’s utter crap. It’s ok for students but not busy adults like myself. People who have followed me – all 20,000 should all be able to see my posts without me having to pay. I have switched to a business account and have paid previously but I have decided to not do it any more.
AprilJuly 23, 2018 at 5:37 pm - Reply
As nice as these hints sound they aren’t accurate it seems,just guesses really.
I am a largeish account with almost 30k followers & I grew to this with the algorithm in place because I am EXTREMELY interactive!
I’m talking full character posts not just content mill crap and I post 7 days a week. I post to stories every day, reply to all comments, like all comments, reply to 100+ DMS daily, go live weekly, ask polls etc, full highlights, comment on other peoples posts EVERYTHING and my engagement numbers have no joke dropped to 2%!
At the end of the day this is EXACTLY what happened on Facebook.. And why I walked away from a 160k following page there. When my final post was only seen by 10 people in a 24 hour period unless of course I could afford to pay $20 A DAY for a single post to be sponsored.
While I’ll keep being present on IG I can tell you this, if you’re a business you’d better get your followers funneled to somewhere else and work on getting out of the void and into somewhere more tangible because this ship is already half way sunk!
JennyAugust 2, 2018 at 12:44 pm - Reply
And the other side is that you don’t get to see posts that you want to – you follow people because you are interested. For example I follow National Geographic, but unless I visit their IG specifically, I never see a post. I have gone in multiple times and liked their posts – but nada on my feed. All I get to see is sofas and kitchens (I sell fabrics and wallpapers) and my friends’ posts. So all the artists and interesting people I never see, I loved the randomness of the old instagram, that’s what made it great. Now it is a BORE, and Facebook should know what happens when people get bored…
MarkoJuly 19, 2018 at 11:33 am - Reply
Like others, I am very unhappy with the changes. I spend an hour editing a video, only for a handful of my followers to see it. I post the same quality content as always but my follower count is going down. I was heading towards my goal of 10K followers, averaging 2 new followers per post, now it is 0 per post. Thanks for the tips.
JackJuly 11, 2018 at 10:57 pm - Reply
Yep Vero has none of these algorithms even though it’s still in beta it’s going to over take insta eventuall. Worst thing ever was FB Nazis buying instagram it’s a slow death for insta.
JoelNovember 15, 2018 at 11:51 pm - Reply
As an ambassador for Vero, I absolutely agree with you. I have close to 100k Instagram followers but only a handful see my posts. I jumped ship long ago. Vero is a small community still but it is my absolute best social network. I just post and engage my followers directly. Never have to worry who is and isn’t gonna see my posts anymore.
@run.with.graceJuly 11, 2018 at 10:02 am - Reply
I started my account about running 2 years ago. I share my passion about running and try to motivate others. I used to grow 250 followers every week, but right now I am losing them. I can not be on instagram 24 hours everyday, because there is also something called Real Life. But on the other hand I am sad that my pictures only reach 10% or less. I worked really hard for the past couple of years to built a beautiful feed and put a lot of effort in making my pictures and creating captions and stories. I don’t wanna be a slave to instagram so I have put down my sword. Right now I am still creating content and share my story with my followers every day, but I don’t expect to grow a lot. I have been stuk at 12.5K followers for months now.. It’s fine. I can only focus on the things I do like: running, taking pics and inspire other people. We’ll see what happends..
KamalJuly 9, 2018 at 3:09 pm - Reply
YaY! Love this tips. Instagram algorithm change day by day.
The best tips for growing the Instagram profile that uploads regularly and uses a perfect hashtag!
I follow this tips on my Instagram profile #fbytviewMariaJune 7, 2018 at 6:27 pm - Reply
Content creators are really hit hard with this one. If they only show posts to 10% of your actual followers, then how many people are seeing the posts outside of that? Very few I imagine. I’m posting and engaging more than ever, and I’ve been so unlucky to be a small account that didn’t take off in the beginning – looking at my insights, I’ve seen a dramatic drop in the reach of my posts. Now it seems like there’s no hope of getting my content seen. This really hurts me because the content I create is something I hope to soon be able to make a living out of – that’s my goal. The way things are, I feel I’ll never get there.
AngieJune 8, 2018 at 9:06 pm - Reply
I feel you girl! One of my pics on Instagram was only shown to 5% of my followers. Like WHAT?!?! Honestly, sometimes just riding out the algorithm wave is the best thing you can do. It will always change but as long as you keep working hard, showing content, and engaging with followers, eventually we’ll make it out alive!
AliciaJune 7, 2018 at 11:45 am - Reply
It affected my video views as well. I have 100K followers in IG. it was all good before Apr/may 2018 this year, my videos were up to 1.5 mil views and yet now I only get like 5K views max. This is ridiculous. It dampens the mood of the content creators like us and my audience and other related viewers are not able to find my post which can be very saddening. I dont know what to do now.
AngieJune 7, 2018 at 5:28 pm - Reply
Oh dang!! Wow! I didn’t know the algorithm has been hitting people that hard! I don’t know much about posting IG videos or how to work around the algorithm with it, but I’ll do some research! But for now, just keep doing you and creating content. Those that do see it still appreciate your hard work and look forward to your posts. 🙂
CourtneyMay 31, 2018 at 11:55 pm - Reply
Thank you so much for sharing this. I have been blogging for approximately a month and I think the hardest thing to understand is the Instagram algorithm. This thing is kicking my butt (ha!)
AngieMay 31, 2018 at 11:58 pm - Reply
I’m so glad I could help! If you have any questions, just let me know! 🙂
MonicaMay 25, 2018 at 8:34 pm - Reply
Their new algorithm REALLY sticks it to content creators, because first it drastically and automatically limits the amount of people who will be able to see your work, and secondly it favors quantity over quality, making it pointless to share any type of content that requires time and energy to create.
Each new tweak of their algorithm makes things worse, and their constant stream of outages in May really dampens the algorithm too.
Recently, it’s gotten to the point where it feels actively unfair. How is it that growth is totally stagnant even after posting consecutive high quality videos that get 100k, 500k, 1m views? That was in April, but whatever suppression they’ve been doing over the past 2 weeks is even worse, because even heavily engaging content barely shows in feeds at all. My friend’s internet famous pet died yesterday, and her video post announcing it got 800 comments in a day, yet still has only 10k views even though she has 75k followers.
Lately, I’ve been personally engaging more than I ever have been, posting stories, replying to comments, even responding to all DMs (which even with suppression isn’t easy when you have 200k followers). And yet engagement / growth is worse than ever.
Instagram may be a place to share quick selfies and videos between your friends, or for businesses willing to pay money for their ads to show up in between. But Instagram is no longer a good place for creators, or anyone who wants a platform simply for their content to be seen. I was lucky to have blown up organically back when it was still possible to do so, but the writing is on the wall that it’s probably time to pivot.
Laura-LeeJune 9, 2018 at 7:41 pm - Reply
Wow. Ya. It’s bad. And like you said, content creators get hit the hardest. I came into the game after many of the changes made it super hard to grow organically, but worked hard and grew up to almost 8k getting 4-600 likes on a post… I was gunning for the big 10k super pumped to get there by June. My engagement took a huge hit at the end of April. I’m now losing followers. My post reach dropped to 25% what it used to be and my likes with it. I’m now stagnant at 7.5k and actually losing followers. I have no idea what to do but try to put up quality content & hope for the algorithm to favour me again…
And this article is really optimistic, but it’s essentially exactly what they did to Facebook and they haven’t looked back. I’m looking to putting energy into other platforms that operate differently (not forcing their viewers to have a preordained experience). Im not rly sure what else to do.
@peppermintplacesApril 10, 2018 at 3:18 am - Reply
So can relate to your blog on the algorithm! I’m feeling it hard core and it’s really upsetting but I will push on like your Machiavelli quote! Xoxo
Emily @hikingwithheelsApril 8, 2018 at 7:27 am - Reply
This is the most helpful post I’ve seen on the new algorithm yet! Great work, Angie!
AngieApril 9, 2018 at 5:55 pm - Reply
Oh my goodness, this makes me so happy to hear! I’m glad you find it helpful. Hopefully, others do as well 🙂
SofiaApril 8, 2018 at 1:49 am - Reply
Angie, thanks so much for this post!! I’ve been doing a ton of research on the algorithm because I too have been victimized, and this post taught me so much more! Will definitely be using some of these tips ❤️
Sofia
AngieApril 9, 2018 at 5:54 pm - Reply
Instagram has been victimizing so many of us, so I’m happy to share what I’ve discovered about the New Algorithm! 🙂
ValerieApril 8, 2018 at 1:14 am - Reply
Love these tips girlie! Very helpful!
AngieApril 9, 2018 at 5:53 pm - Reply
Yay! I’m so glad you like them Valerie! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Manuel VargasApril 26, 2021 at 7:50 am - Reply
What do you think are viable social media options for content creators? I started using Insta a few months ago. I was posting only in picsart but that environment was even worse. I think they’re bringing Insta into line with that. Cut bandwidth to current customers to make room for new ones. I thought I was creating crap and that’s why my reach dropped just when it was on a steady increase. Thank you so much for this information!
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