How to Change the Instagram Reels Algorithm

Thinking you can manually change the Instagram Reels algorithm is a common misunderstanding - it's not a settings page you can tweak. But you absolutely can influence, train, and guide it to work in your favor. This guide will show you precisely how to feed the algorithm the right signals to control what you see in your feed and get your own Reels in front of the right audience.

How the Instagram Reels Algorithm Actually Works

Before you can influence the algorithm, you need to understand its primary goal: to keep users on the app as long as possible. To do this, it acts like a sophisticated matchmaker, connecting viewers with content it predicts they will love. It’s not one single entity but a complex system of predictors, known as "signals," that help it decide which Reel to show you next.

Here are the most important signals it pays attention to:

• Your activity: It watches everything you do. The Reels you like, comment on, save, share, and watch all the way through are powerful indicators of your interests.
• Your relationships: It considers your interaction history with specific creators. If you often engage with content from a certain account, it’s more likely to show you their new Reels.
• Information about the Reel: Instagram analyzes the nuts and bolts of the video itself - the audio track, the pixels and frames (to understand the visuals), the caption, and the hashtags. It uses this data to categorize your Reel and determine its subject matter.
• Information about the creator: It also looks at the creator's profile, including their overall engagement and popularity, to gauge their authority on a given topic.

Your goal isn't to hack or cheat this system. It's to learn its language and give it clear, consistent signals about what you want to see or what your content is about. Think of it less as changing the algorithm and more as becoming its favorite student.

Training the Algorithm as a Viewer: Curate Your Feed

If your Reels feed is a mess of random content you don’t enjoy, you can retrain it with a few intentional actions. Cleaning up your feed is also step one in understanding how the algorithm thinks, which is essential knowledge for any creator.

Go All-In on What You Love

The algorithm learns from your positive interactions. You need to be deliberate about telling it, "Yes, more of this, please!"

• Likes are good, but Saves are better. When you save a Reel, you're sending a strong signal that the content is so valuable you want to return to it later. This is one of the most powerful positive indicators you can give.
• Comment and share. Leaving a comment or sharing a Reel to your Stories or with a friend are high-impact actions. They tell the algorithm this content is valuable enough to spark a conversation or be passed along.
• Watch to the end. Reel completion rate is huge. By letting a Reel play all the way through (or even watching it multiple times), you're voting for it with your attention.
• Hit 'Follow.' Following an account is the ultimate stamp of approval. It tells Instagram you want to see what this person creates in the future, giving their content priority in your feed.

Politely Reject What You Don't Want

Just as important as showing love is telling the algorithm what you don't want to see. This helps it narrow down your interests and filter out irrelevant content.

• Use the "Not Interested" button. This is your direct line to the algorithm. Tap the three dots (...) in the bottom corner of a Reel and select "Not Interested." Instagram will immediately hide the post and start showing you fewer posts like it. Be ruthless with this button.
• Don't hesitate to "Unfollow." If an account's content no longer resonates with you, unfollowing is the clearest way to stop seeing it.
• Don’t linger on bad content. Dwell time is a signal. If you truly dislike a video, scroll past it quickly. Pausing on it, even out of frustrated curiosity, might accidentally be interpreted as interest.

Influencing the Algorithm as a Creator: Make Content It Wants to Promote

As a creator, your job is to create Reels that viewers will love so much they send all those positive signals we just covered. This tells the algorithm your content is worth pushing to a wider audience.

1. Create Content People Genuinely Want to Watch

No amount of algorithm-hacking can save boring content. Value has to be at the core of everything you make. The algorithm rewards content that holds people's attention.

Start with a Powerful Hook

You have less than three seconds to stop the scroll. Your opening needs to grab attention immediately. Instead of a slow intro, start with action, a question, or a bold statement.

• Good Hook: "Here are three photography mistakes that are ruining your photos."
• Bad Hook: "Hey everyone, welcome back to my channel. Today I’m going to talk about photography."

Provide Value in the "Middle"

Your content should be either educational, entertaining, inspirational, or relational. Solve a problem, teach a skill, make someone laugh, or tell a relatable story. That's what people save and share.

End with a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)

Guide your viewers on what to do next. A CTA prompts them to send those valuable engagement signals.

• "Save this list for your next trip to a coffee tasting experience!"
• "Which outfit idea is your favorite? Let me know in the comments!"
• "Follow for Part 2 where I’ll show you my best sourdough recipes."

2. Speak the Language of Reels: Technicals Matter

Small technical choices can have a big impact on how your Reel is categorized and distributed.

• Always Use Trending Audio. Using audio that is already popular gives your Reel a piggyback ride on an existing trend. To find trending sounds, look for the little upward-trending arrow next to the audio name on other Reels. When you find one that fits your brand, save it to use later.
• Use Instagram's Creative Tools. The algorithm rewards content made with its own features. Use native tools like text overlays, polls, quizzes, stickers, and green screen effects. This signals you're creating quality content specifically for the platform.
• Prioritize High-Quality Video. Post clear, high-resolution videos, not pixelated or blurry ones. Critically, do not upload videos with watermarks from other platforms like TikTok. Instagram has stated its algorithm actively penalizes this and will limit its reach.
• Stay Vertical. Reels are a vertical-first format. Film and edit in a 9:16 aspect ratio to fill the entire mobile screen. Videos with borders or in other formats don't perform nearly as well.

3. Use Text to Guide the Algorithm

Your caption and hashtags aren't just for your viewers, they're vital clues for the algorithm.

Write a Good Caption

Your caption should be more than just emojis. Describe what’s happening in the video using keywords that relate to your niche or industry. If your Reel is a tutorial on brewing coffee, your caption should include words like "coffee," "espresso," "brew guide," and "home barista." This helps the algorithm understand the context of your video.

Implement a Smart Hashtag Strategy

Forget stuffing your posts with 30 irrelevant, spammy tags. Focus on quality over quantity with a balanced strategy. A good mix is 5-8 total hashtags.

• 2-3 Broad Hashtags: These are popular tags related to your general topic (e.g., #interiordesign, #homedecor).
• 2-3 Niche-Specific Hashtags: These drill down to your specific subject and help you reach a more targeted audience (e.g., #eclectichome, #dopaminedecor, #maximaliststyle).
• 1-2 Brand or Community Hashtags: These can be tags unique to your business or a community you're part of (e.g., #YourBrandNameHere).

4. Be a Consistent and Engaged Creator

The algorithm favors active and reliable accounts.

Post Consistently

You don't need to post a Reel three times a day, but you do need to find a sustainable schedule and stick to it. Whether it's three times a week or five times a week, a consistent rhythm shows the algorithm that you're a serious creator who is regularly providing fresh content for the platform.

Post When Your Audience is Online

Getting early engagement on a Reel is considered a positive signal. Check your Instagram Professional Dashboard (under Insights >, Total Followers) to see the days and times your audience is most active and schedule your posts accordingly.

Engage with Your Community

When people comment on your Reels, respond! Answering questions and replying to comments fosters a sense of community and doubles your comment count, further boosting your engagement metrics. This loop of interaction is exactly what the algorithm is designed to reward.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, getting the Reels algorithm to work for you isn't about finding a secret formula or a temporary hack. It's about consistently creating content that an audience finds valuable and giving the platform clear signals about who that audience is. By focusing on quality, intentional engagement, and a smart posting strategy, you can effectively teach the algorithm how to recommend your content to people who will become your most loyal followers.

Staying consistent is often the most challenging piece of the puzzle, especially when your time is split between creating content and managing multiple social platforms. That’s why we built Postbase. Our visual content calendar helps you plan your Reels schedule weeks in advance so you never miss a beat, while our built-for-video scheduler ensures your content always goes live reliably. It's designed to make the hard parts of social media management simple, giving you back the time to focus on what’s most important: creating great content.