Topics · Signal
Captions and keywords
Contents
Captions are the text creators publish with Instagram photos or videos, and keywords are relevant words in that text that help match posts to searches.12 Creators can edit captions after publishing, but Mosseri says Instagram looks at the caption written when a post is first published to understand an account for account searches.34 Viewers can filter suggested posts by words or hashtags in their captions, with hashtags requiring an exact match; these filters do not cover comments, posts from followed accounts, or suggestions viewed on instagram.com.5 Meta’s Newsroom says writers of potentially offensive Feed captions receive a warning that their wording resembles captions reported for bullying, giving them a chance to reconsider before posting.6 In August 2022, Instagram for Creators advised putting relevant keywords and hashtags in captions rather than comments to help posts appear in Search, while Adam Mosseri recommended adding context about the photo or video and using just a couple of hashtags rather than 20.12
How captions help people find content
Instagram for Creators advises placing relevant search keywords and hashtags in a post's caption rather than its comments so the post can be found in Search.1 Mosseri recommends adding context about a photo or video to its caption to help Instagram figure out what it is about.2 For account searches, Mosseri specifies that Instagram looks at the caption written when the post is first published.4
Caption filters and offensive-language warnings
Instagram's caption filters cover suggested posts, but not posts from accounts the viewer follows.5 Instagram's Help Center says the filters apply to captions and hashtags rather than comments, and do not affect suggested posts viewed on instagram.com.5 For a potentially offensive Feed caption, Meta's Newsroom describes a prompt telling the writer that the wording resembles captions reported for bullying, giving them an opportunity to reconsider their words.6
How it has changed
- 2012
August
Instagram introduced a larger caption text box to make longer photo captions easier to write and edit.7
- 2014
November
Instagram added the ability to return to a published post and edit its caption.3
- 2019
December
Meta's Newsroom announced that Instagram was beginning to roll out potentially offensive-caption warnings.6
- 2023
January
Instagram announced an expansion of word-filtering controls.8
What you can do
- When adding a hashtag to your suggested-post filter list, enter it exactly as it appears in the suggested post so the filter can match it.5
See also
References
- 1What Creators Need To Know About Instagram Recommendations
- 2Recommendations
- 3New: Discover Feature Added to Explore and Caption Editing
- 4How Search Works
- 5Stop seeing suggested posts with certain words on Instagram
- 6Our Progress on Leading the Fight Against Online Bullying
- 7Introducing Instagram Explore, Photo Maps & More
- 8Giving People Control Over Their Time and What They See on Instagram