Instagram Feed AI system

UPDATED SEP 12, 2025

The content you see on your Instagram Feed is selected, ranked and delivered to you by an artificial intelligence (AI) system. Within one AI system, multiple machine learning models work together to deliver your experience. These models and their input signals are dynamic and they change frequently as the system learns and improves over time.

Overview of Instagram Feed

When you view and interact with Instagram, one of the underlying AI systems delivers the connected content you see in your feed, which is powered by the Instagram Feed AI system.

Note: Your feed might also include suggested content and advertisements. That content is not powered by the AI we describe in this system card. Suggested content is described in Instagram Feed Recommendations.

How Instagram Feed works

The Instagram Feed AI system automatically orders the posts in your feed by predicting what you will find most valuable and relevant. These predictions are based on a variety of factors, including what and whom you’ve followed, liked or engaged with recently. Here’s how it works:

Gather available posts
First, the system gathers all potential posts from accounts you follow, such as posts from friends. It then removes the posts that go against our Community Guidelines.
Leverage signals
Next, the AI system considers a variety of input signals about each post. These signals might include who created the post or the type of content in the post. A lightweight model is run to select approximately 500 of the most relevant posts. The system also applies certain integrity processes to help reduce the distribution of problematic content.
Make predictions
From there, the AI system has models that help it make predictions about content you’ll find most relevant and valuable.
Rank posts by score
Finally, the system calculates a relevance score for about 500 posts and puts them in order by this score. Posts that the system predicts will provide more value for you are shown higher in your feed. The system also tries to ensure your feed has a balanced mix of content types.

How to customize what you see

Your experience on Instagram Feed is personalized based on your activity, and you have options to control or customize what you see. Below, we describe how to do this with different in-product features. Options shown here may not be available to everyone.

Mute

If you don't want to see someone's posts in your feed, you can mute someone on Instagram.

Add to favorites

When you select this option on a post, the account it’s posted from is added to your favorites. You can view and browse all of your favorite accounts in one place.

You can share a post by sending it to a chat, adding it to your story or sharing it to another app or site.

Report

If you see something you think goes against our Community Guidelines, you can report it to us. You can also report posts that you think are spam or false news. The system will try to show you less content that is similar to the content you reported.

Save

You can save a post to your own collection or to a collaborative collection in a chat with friends.

See newest content first

To see content from accounts you follow in reverse chronological order, click "Following” on the home screen. Learn more.

Following/Favorites

You can click the Instagram logo on your home screen and then click on either “Following” or “Favorites” on mobile app. On tablets, from the “Following” tab you can click “Latest” to display content only from accounts you follow in reverse chronological order. When you select this option, you won’t see recommended content from instagram. Posts from accounts you add to your Favorites list will be prioritized when you view your main feed.

Unfollow

To stop seeing posts from a certain account, you can unfollow it.

Hide

In the three-dot overflow menu on a post, you can click “Hide” so you won’t see that post again in your feed. This action also helps to limit similar content from showing up in your feed.

How the AI delivers content to you

We want you to see content you enjoy and find interesting. To achieve this, the AI system has models that help it make predictions about content you'll find most relevant and valuable. These prediction models use underlying input signals to help select content you're most likely to engage with.

Below are some of the significant predictions-and input signals that inform them-that we use in this AI system.

How likely you are to reshare a post