Instagram Suggested Accounts AI system

UPDATED MAR 7, 2025
The content you see on your Instagram Suggested Accounts 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 Suggested Accounts

When you view and interact with Instagram, one of the underlying AI systems suggests relevant accounts for you to follow based on your interests and interactions. This means that as you engage with various content such as posts, stories, reels or even interact with other users through likes, comments or direct messages; the AI learns about your preferences and tailors account recommendations accordingly.
These suggested accounts will appear in multiple sections across the platform, including the "Suggested for You" or "Discover People" categories in the "Following" tab, as well as within the "Explore" tab itself where you can find new content aligned with your interests. Additionally, when you follow an account, Instagram may present you with a list of similar or related accounts, offering further opportunities for discovery and connection.
How Instagram Suggested Accounts works
The AI system behind Suggested Accounts automatically generates personalized account recommendations for each user based on their interests and interactions within Instagram. Here’s how it works:
  1. Candidate Sourcing
    First, the system gathers potential account candidates for each user by analyzing various aspects, such as followers of accounts the user already follows, popular accounts in the user's geographical region or accounts related to topics and products the user has recently engaged with.
  2. ML Ranking
    Next, the system employs machine learning algorithms to rank these candidate accounts and create a personalized list of recommendations. This process takes into account user attributes and public behavior on Instagram, like the number of follows, mutual friends with the recommended account, and other relevant factors to provide tailored suggestions.
  3. Apply filtering rules
    Next, the system applies filtering rules to remove blocked and deactivated accounts. It also applies certain integrity processes to remove content that may go against our Community Guidelines.
How to customize what you see
Your experience on Instagram Suggested Accounts 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.
Dismiss a suggestion or unit
If you're not interested in a suggested account, you can click the X button to dismiss the recommendation. Similarly, if you don't find the suggested account unit in Stories relevant to your interests, you can dismiss the entire unit. This feedback helps the system provide better suggestions in the future.
Connect or disconnect contacts syncing
You can connect or disconnect your contacts from periodically syncing with Instagram. When you disconnect contact syncing, this stops the system from recommending accounts based on your contact list.
Turn notifications on or off
You can turn notifications on or off about suggested accounts to follow on Instagram.
Restrict, mute and block accounts
You can limit your exposure to certain accounts with restrict, mute and block options. The system uses these signals to avoid recommending certain accounts that you’re not following or have unfollowed.
See non-personalized account suggestions
To see account suggestions that aren't personalized specifically to you, click "Discover more accounts" when viewing suggestions of accounts to follow. Learn more.
Link or unlink your Facebook account
You can link or unlink your Facebook account from your Instagram account. When you unlink it, the system won’t use Facebook data to recommend Instagram accounts to you.
Unfollow an account
You can unfollow an account, which helps the system not recommend similar accounts.
Shuffle suggestions or Click 'see all'
If you want to explore more diverse account recommendations, you can shuffle the suggestions to receive a new set of personalized accounts. Alternatively, clicking "See all" allows you to view even more suggestions tailored to your preferences.
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 it is that you will follow a suggested account and see a content from the account
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • How long it’s been since the suggested account has been following you
  • How many mutual friends do you and the suggested accounts have on Instagram
  • How many people follow the suggested account
How likely it is that you will follow a suggested account and the account will follow you back, and see a content from the account
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • How long the suggested account has been following you
  • How many follows have you made in the last 28 days
  • Whether the suggested account is following you
How likely it is that you will follow the suggested account
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • How many mutual friends do you and the suggested accounts have on Instagram
  • How long the suggested account has been following you
  • Whether the suggested account is a private account
How likely it is that you visit the suggested user’s profile after follow
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • How close you are with the suggested account.
  • How likely it is that you will follow the suggested account
  • How many popular followers do suggested account have
How likely it is that you will follow a suggested account and the account will follow you back
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • Whether the suggested account is following you
  • How long the suggested account has been following you
  • How many accounts the suggested account follows
How likely it is that you will follow a suggested account and visit the account profile
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • How many mutual friends do you and the suggested accounts have on Instagram
  • How long it’s been since the suggested account has been following you
  • How many people follow the suggested account
How likely it is that you will send and receive messages from a suggested account
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • How likely you are to interact with the suggest account in the last 8 interactions
  • How likely the suggested account is to interact with you in the last 8 interactions
  • The position of the suggested account in the suggested accounts list
How likely it is that you will follow a suggested account and see a content from the account
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • How many mutual friends do you and the suggested accounts have on Instagram
  • How many people follow the suggested account
  • How long it’s been since the suggested account has been following you
How likely it is that you will follow a suggested account and the account will follow you back
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • How long it’s been since the suggested account has been following you
  • Of the accounts that a suggested account follows, what percentage of them follow back
  • How many mutual friends do you and the suggested accounts have on Instagram
How likely it is that you will follow a suggested account
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • How long it’s been since the suggested account has been following you
  • Whether the suggested account is a private account
  • How many mutual friends do you and the suggested accounts have on Instagram
How likely it is that you will follow an account and see a content from the account between 4 and 7 days of following
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • How many people follow the suggested account
  • Whether the suggested account is following you
  • How many accounts the suggested account follows
How likely it is that you will follow the suggested account
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • How many times you've tapped on accounts in someone's follow list in the past 28 days
  • Whether the suggested account is following you
  • The number of mutual follows you have with the suggested account
How likely it is that you will follow a suggested account and the account will follow you back
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • Whether the suggested account is following you
  • How many times you've tapped on accounts in someone's follow list in the past 28 days
  • How many accounts the suggested account follows
How likely it is that you will follow an account and see a content from the account within 3 days of following
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • Whether the suggested account is following you
  • How many accounts the suggested account follows
  • How many people follow the suggested account
The predicted closeness between you and the account being suggested
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • How many accounts the suggested account follows
  • How many times you've tapped on accounts in someone's follow list in the past 28 days
  • How many accounts you've followed
  • How many times the suggested account has been tapped in someone's follow list in the past 3 days
  • Whether the suggested account is following you
How likely it is that you will follow a suggested account
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • Whether the suggested account is following you
  • The number of mutual follows you have with the suggested account
  • How many times you've tapped on accounts in someone's follow list in the past 28 days
  • How many days you have been on Instagram in the past 30 days
  • Whether the suggested account is a private account
How likely it is that you will follow a suggested account and the account will follow you back
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • How many accounts the suggested account follows
  • Whether the suggested account is following you
  • How many times you've tapped on accounts in someone's follow list in the past 28 days
  • How many accounts you've followed
  • Whether you have the suggested account in your contacts or they have you in their contacts
How likely it is that you will follow an account and see a content from the account within 7 days of following
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • Whether the suggested account is following you
  • How many accounts the suggested account follows
  • How many people follow the suggested account
  • How long ago you made the mutual follows you have with the suggested account
  • How many times you've tapped on accounts in someone's follow list in the past 28 days