Instagram Is Combatting Reposted TikTok Videos With a New Algorithm
Kristin Snyder is dot.LA's 2022/23 Editorial Fellow. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
Instagram is tired of reposted TikTok videos dominating its feed—and is now doing something about it.
On Wednesday, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced that the Meta-owned social media app is changing its algorithm to boost original, Instagram-hosted content. As Fast Company observed this week, the move appears geared toward combating the spread of TikTok-produced videos that have increasingly proliferated on Instagram.
As well as introducing new product tags and user category features, Mosseri said the new ranking system will boost photos and Reels made on Instagram across users’ feeds and their Explore page recommendations. The new algorithm comes as Instagram is beta-testing “Use Template,” a Reels feature that lets users replicate editing and formatting touches from other videos, Business Insider reported Friday.
Aggregators—accounts that repost viral content—are still popular on Instagram, and Mosseri tweeted that the new ranking system will ensure the app’s recommendations “don’t overvalue aggregators, as that would be bad for creators, and therefor [sic] bad for Instagram long term.” He noted that the algorithm predicts a post’s originality based on indicators like the people in the video and whether the algorithm has previously seen the content—but added the caveat that it “can’t know for sure” who the original creator is.
Despite launching Reels, its own short-form video feature, in 2020, Instagram has been confronted by TikTok’s growing prominence in recent years and made efforts to counter its rival’s popularity. Last year, Instagram’s algorithm began to make videos with visible watermarks from other social media platforms, including TikTok, less discoverable. Instagram’s efforts come amid recent reports that its parent company, Meta, reportedly financed a targeted public relations campaign against TikTok.
Other social media companies contending with Culver City-based TikTok’s massive user base have also tried to replicate the video-sharing app’s success. Snap launched its TikTok-esque Spotlight feature in 2020 and paid out some $250 million last year to more than 12,000 creators on the platform. In its first-quarter earnings report this week, Santa Monica-based Snap announced a 230% year-on-year increase in the total time spent by users on Spotlight.Kristin Snyder is dot.LA's 2022/23 Editorial Fellow. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
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