Instagram head Adam Mosseri says ‘original content’ will be ranked higher than reshared posts

Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced several new features on Wednesday that are focused on creators and how they get credit for their products and content used on the platform. One of these changes, Mosseri said, will rank “original content” higher.

When someone opens the Instagram app these days, there is a very high chance for them to find reposted content from TikTok or other platforms. Instagram is also filled with pages known as aggregators, which commonly collect content with the same themes. These types of posts may be affected by the ranking changes Mosseri announced this week.

The new features, which also include the expansion of product tagging and enhanced tags function, are a host of creator-focused updates Instagram has introduced recently. Mosseri noted that creators are important to the platform’s future and that these changes are meant to help them get proper credit for their work.

“I know a lot of you are skeptical of ranking, but it really does help us make sure that Instagram is more valuable to each and every person who uses the platform,” Mosseri said. “This one is specifically focused, though, on this idea of originality.”

In the same video announcement, a stickied text that reads “Original Content” appears exactly when the head of Instagram says, “If you create something from scratch,” which suggests that is how the platform would identify posts that will be ranked higher. But when asked for further clarification on Instagram’s definition of original content, Mosseri added, “The idea is if you made it, it’s original. It’s okay if you edited it outside of Instagram and then bring it in via the gallery.”

However, Mosseri also admitted in his other replies on Twitter that identifying original content can be difficult, so they will likely “iterate over time.” The head of Instagram also said they “can’t know for sure” who is the original creator of posts shared on the platform, but they have classifiers to “predict” if a content is original.

Despite the many questions left hanging, Mosseri also explained that the ranking updates are being implemented now as Instagram leans more toward recommendations. The company exec added that ranking original content higher is their way to avoid putting too much value on posts being shared by aggregators to protect the interests of creators.

Photo by Obi - @pixel6propix on Unsplash