Suggested posts

Suggested posts help viewers explore their interests more deeply and discover new things, according to Meta’s AI blog.2 Meta’s engineering team described the December 2020 design as making suggestions feel like a continuation of the Home Feed.7 To put this kind of discovery in context, Meta’s AI blog reported in June 2023 that more than 20 percent of content in people’s Facebook and Instagram feeds was recommended from people, groups or accounts they did not follow; that figure covered both products, not Instagram suggested posts alone.2

Instagram’s suggested-post system starts by gathering a selection of public photos and videos that meet its quality and integrity rules, according to Meta’s Transparency Center.1 It considers information about the content and how the viewer has interacted with similar material.1 It then orders the candidates so that posts predicted to provide more value to that viewer appear higher in Feed.1 The information it considers includes previously reshared posts, how often the viewer has been shown recommendations and an assessment of a post’s quality generated by an AI language model.1

Suggested posts are assessed under Instagram’s Recommendations Guidelines, which apply to recommendations in Feed as well as places such as Explore, Reels and Search.6 Instagram says it tries not to recommend depictions of people fighting or the use of tobacco, vaping products or pharmaceutical drugs.6 Meta’s Transparency Center explains that these standards address content viewers have not chosen to receive by following an account, including material that may be low-quality, objectionable, sensitive or inappropriate for younger viewers.8 For political content, Instagram’s policy explainer was updated in May 2025 to direct readers to Meta’s Transparency Center for more on its approach.9

To change Instagram’s suggested posts, tap Options above a post and then Not interested; this removes it immediately and tells Instagram to suggest fewer posts like it.34 From there, choose Don’t suggest posts with certain words, enter words, phrases or emoji separated by commas, and tap Done; Instagram says this filter may take up to 24 hours to take effect.5 Instagram’s Help Center also lists Don’t suggest posts from [name] and This post made me uncomfortable as feedback options, and says responses affect future suggestions.4 Choosing Snooze pauses all suggested posts in Feed for 30 days.4 For a view without suggestions, tap the Instagram logo at the top left of the home Feed and choose Following, which Meta’s Newsroom and Mosseri describe as showing only posts from followed accounts in chronological order.31011