Instagram is testing a new way for people to see and edit the topics its recommendation systems think they want to view. The feature, called Your Algorithm, is now being expanded to the main feed after already appearing in Reels and Explore.
The update was described by Instagram head Adam Mosseri in a post outlining the company’s thinking about algorithms, user choice, and the future of personalized feeds. He said the feature shows the topics Instagram believes a user is interested in, and gives them the ability to add subjects they want to see more often or remove ones they do not.
According to Mosseri, the tool is intended to give users more control over the content they encounter in the app. Instagram said the feature is available across the major parts of the platform, including Reels, Explore and now Feed.
The move comes as social platforms continue to rely heavily on recommendation systems that surface posts from accounts people do not follow. Mosseri argued that these systems can be useful because they help people discover new content and creators, and can keep feeds active even when only a small share of people post regularly.
At the same time, he acknowledged a broader concern about how recommendation-driven products affect user agency. In his view, the problem is not that recommendations exist, but that users have historically had few tools to shape those systems directly. Instagram’s new feature is meant to address that imbalance by turning the algorithm into something more visible and editable.
Mosseri also noted that the company plans to expand the concept beyond topics. Instagram is exploring ways for users to indicate interest in different people, moods, content formats and other preferences in the future.
The feature reflects a wider debate in social media about how much control platforms should give users over what they see. Instagram’s parent company appears to be positioning the update as part of a larger effort to make recommendation systems more understandable and more responsive to individual preferences.
Mosseri said the company believes people should have meaningful influence over the products they spend time in, and that giving users the ability to shape their feeds is good for both users and the business.
He also suggested that advances in AI could eventually make it possible to generate entire personalized experiences in real time. That would create new questions about how much shared experience remains when every user sees a different version of an app.
For now, however, Instagram is focusing on a narrower step. Your Algorithm gives users a clearer look at the topics driving their feed and a direct way to make changes. The company is treating the rollout as an early move toward more user-controlled recommendations, even as many creators and users continue to question how much reach follower-based distribution still provides on the platform.
The change is likely to draw continued attention from creators, who have often argued that algorithmic distribution makes it harder to predict who sees their posts. Instagram has not said whether the feature will alter ranking behavior in a major way, but it does represent a visible shift in how the app presents its recommendation systems to users.