Are you fed up with seeing random suggested posts and reels or content on your Instagram? Instagram tracks your reading and scrolling habits and how you use Instagram overall to figure out which reels and stories you might like. You can use this to your advantage to teach Instagram your content and influencer preferences and control your Instagram feed.
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Add Your Followers to Favorites
Did you know you can add the accounts you follow to the Favorites category on Instagram? This essentially means their posts, stories, and reels will be higher up in your feed. Instagram will also recommend them more when you’re sharing reels or posts in the share menu.
1. To add the people you follow as Favorites, open Instagram on your iPhone or Android. Then head over to the profile section.
2. Tap on the three-line icon on the top right of your screen, then tap on Favorites.
3. Now tap on the Add button next to your friend’s username to add them to your Favorites list. Alternatively, you can search and tap on their username to add them to the favorites list.
This way you can prioritize the people you like over any other follower on your Instagram.
Add Friends to the Close Friends List
Just like how you’ve added friends to your Favorites, you can also add them to your close friends list. As the name suggests, Favorites can be your favorite influencer while Close Friends can be your childhood buddy. You can also share exclusive stories, posts, and reels with your close friends if you choose to do so.
1. To add your friends to the close friends list, open Instagram on your phone. Then head over to the profile section.
2. Tap on the three-line icon on the top right of your screen, then tap on Close Friends.
3. You’ll see a list of your followers. Tap on your friend’s username to add them to your Close Friends. Alternatively, you can search and tap on their username to add them to the close friends list.
With this done, you’ll see your close friends appear ahead of your other friends and followers on Instagram. You can now also share your Instagram posts, and reels with all your close friends and it’ll be visible only to them, adding another level of privacy to your profile.
Explore the Following Feed
If you’ve had enough of Instagram’s silly account recommendations and sponsored ads, then you can shift to the Following feed. It does not display any ads but only posts and reels from accounts that you’ve followed.
1. To access the Following feed on Instagram, open the Instagram app and tap on the Instagram logo on the top left of your screen.
2. Now tap on Following from the drop-down menu and Instagram will take you to the Following Feed.
This is a neat trick that you can follow to avoid interacting with unknown accounts and sponsored content on Instagram while also being up to date with the people you follow to control your feed on Instagram. But you cannot see any stories in the Following feed, to again see the stories just go back to the usual feed on Instagram.
Alternatively, you can also access the Favorites feed on Instagram. It only shows you posts and reels from the accounts you’ve marked as Favorite on Instagram. It’s great if you don’t want to fall into the scrolling trap.
Manage Suggested Posts
If you feel like you’re being bombarded with multiple suggested posts, then you need to give feedback on the suggested posts to reduce their frequency. You can flag a specific account not to bother you for the next 30 days, or completely remove it from the suggestions shown to you. Sensitive content can also be restricted or allowed, depending on your preference here to manage your suggested posts to control your feed on Instagram.
You can also mark a post as uninterested, thereby limiting your interaction with posts of a similar kind. You can even restrict posts and reels with certain kinds of words from ever showing up on your Instagram feed. We’ve already covered all these options to manage suggested posts on your Instagram and more in a separate detailed article. Be sure to go through it.
Restrict Accounts and Content From Bad Actors
If you want to limit someone’s interaction with you on Instagram without actually blocking or unfollowing them, then you restrict them from your Instagram but know what happens when you do so. If there’s an account that keeps popping up on your feed and you find the content to be offensive or abusive as per the Instagram community guidelines, then you can block, report, or restrict that account. Learn the correct usage of block, report, or restrict on Instagram via our article.
Interact on Posts, Reels, and Comments Responsibly
You might not know this but Instagram has an algorithm running in the background that suggests which posts, reels, and ads should be targeted to you. For example, if you like or comment on one cat reel on Instagram, then you’ll start seeing your explore page as well as suggested content in the feed comprising mostly cat videos, posts, and memes.
This is done by the algorithm since you showed an interest in the initial cat video, establishing it as a topic of interest. Therefore, be mindful of which posts and reels you like or comment on if you don’t want to be targeted by the Instagram algorithm in topics you don’t want to be pestered about.
On this note, this is how you can limit comments on your Instagram Reels, Stories, and Posts.
Clear Your Instagram Search History
As stated earlier, the Instagram algorithm suggests various posts and reels from popular or sponsored accounts. Your Instagram search history also contributes to that. So, after doing a search on Instagram make sure you clear your search history. It’s a good thing we’ve covered this in a detailed article, showcasing how you can clear your search history regardless if you’re using Instagram on your phone or browser.
Control Your Feed on Instagram
Be it a cat reel or a random post on Instagram, now you can control what content is shown on your feed by restricting users, exploring the following and favorites feed, and much more. Additionally, if you’re a parent who’s worried about their kid’s safety on Instagram, then this is how you can set up Supervision on Instagram and protect them from potential threats.
