Instagram has announced the global availability of new personalization controls for its Reels algorithm to all English-speaking users. These features allow users to manage and refine the topics recommended in their Reels feed, offering greater influence over their content experience. The rollout follows an initial testing phase that began in October of the previous year.
Feature Access and Functionality
Users can access these controls by tapping the top-right slider icon within the Reels feed. The interface presents topics identified by Meta's AI, based on recent user activity, and provides options to add or remove categories of interest from their Reels profile. Users can also tap on any listed interest to view examples of videos aligned with that category.
Additionally, a separate field allows users to specify topics they wish to see less of. For future algorithm guidance, a "build your 2026 algorithm" option is available, enabling users to highlight three specific topics that will inform their Reels feed preferences for the upcoming year.
Broader Context and Observations
This initiative aligns with a broader industry trend among social applications, with Meta implementing similar manual algorithm input measures across its platforms, including Facebook and Threads, to enhance user control over in-stream content.
During testing, an instance was observed where a skiing clip was categorized as "snowboarding" by Meta's algorithm after "snowboarding" was added as a preferred topic, indicating specific classification behaviors.
Limitations Regarding Advertisements
The new controls do not permit users to request fewer advertisements. Attempts to add "ads" to the list of topics users wish to see less of resulted in an error message stating, "No results found. Try another topic or interest." However, users are able to successfully add "sponsored content" and "AI" to this same list.