Instagram has announced that they are testing new ways for people to reset the content recommendations they see across the platform, including what they see across Explore, Reels, and Feed. Instagram shared that the latest announcement is part of their plans to ensure that everyone, particularly teenagers, has ‘safe, positive, age-appropriate experiences and feels the time they’re spending on Instagram is valuable.’
This new feature follows the announcement of Instagram’s ‘Teen Accounts’, and a series of new features aiming to protect young people and users from harm across Meta’s platform. The latest features have also included new protections for people affected by sextortion.
How To Use Instagram’s Reset Tool
The reset tool, which Meta stated will be available worldwide ‘soon’, will reset the recommended content provided by Instagram algorithms to users.
To reset recommendations and feeds, users will be able to select "reset suggested content" from their "content preferences" screen. As part of the resetting tools, users will also be able to review accounts that they follow with the option to unfollow any that share content they ‘no longer want to see.’
However, whilst the reset tool will help to remove previous algorithm recommendations, Instagram has shared that over time, the recommendations will begin to ‘personalise’ again, ‘showing new content based on the content and accounts you interact with.’ However, the new tool will help to ensure a fresh start on the platform.
The latest features come alongside multiple different options across Instagram to tailor your algorithm, including options to highlight content users find ‘interesting’ or ‘not interesting’ on the platform. Recently, Instagram also revealed that Teen Accounts will feature options for young people to choose topics they want to see more of in their feed – such as sports or hobbies.
Instagram and Facebook Transparency Centre
The new reset tool comes after Meta published a new page called ‘Helping Teens See Age-Appropriate Content‘ in their Transparency Centre, which is meant to help ‘parents and teens better understand how this approach to content works’. The new update explains the different layers of protection and examples of the content Instagram and Facebook hides, removes and avoid recommending to teen accounts.
The page highlights the different content that is removed across Instagram for all users based on Instagram’s Community Standards, including hate speech, bullying, abuse and graphic content. It also reveals the additional content hidden from teens around restricted goods, self-injury, and threatening content.
Reporting Content On Instagram
If you have experienced anything harmful online, you can access advice about how to report harmful content through the Report Harmful Content service. To find out more about reporting harmful content online, you can visit the Report Harmful Content website below.
For more information on updating your privacy settings across Instagram and other social media platforms, you can download our free checklists to help ensure your privacy is up to date.
