Instagram Will Stop Recommending Your Posts If You Keep Reposting Others' Content

If your Instagram account reposts others' work without adding anything new, the app's recommendation engine will now quietly stop amplifying it.

Instagram has expanded its original content rules to photos and carousels.

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Key points generated by AI, verified by newsroom

• Instagram will stop recommending accounts reposting non-original content.
• This change extends original content protections to photos/carousels.
• Aggregator accounts lose visibility on suggested feeds, Discover tab.

Instagram has announced that accounts which regularly repost content they did not create will no longer be eligible for recommendations across the app. The Meta-owned platform said the move is aimed at ensuring original creators get the credit and visibility they deserve. The change extends existing protections, which were already in place for reels, to photos and carousels. 

Carousels are posts that feature a collection of images and videos in a swipeable format. The update directly targets content aggregators that re-upload other people's work without adding anything new.

How Instagram Defines Original Content

According to Instagram, original content is anything someone wholly created, or that reflects their unique perspective, including photos or videos they took, or content they designed. The platform also considers materially edited content as original. This means using third-party content, such as meme templates or popular clips, is acceptable, as long as the user adds something that genuinely enhances it.

"For example, an original meme transforms another creator's photo or video," Instagram explained in a blog post. "When meme creators add humour, social commentary, cultural references, or a relatable take by incorporating elements such as unique text, creative edits, and voiceover on a photo or video, they're producing something original. 

The best meme creators take third-party content and make it unmistakably theirs by layering in a perspective, joke, or context that wasn't there before. This is the kind of creativity we want to continue rewarding."

However, low-effort edits such as adding watermarks or simply changing the speed of a video do not qualify. Uploading a screenshot of someone else's post, even with their username visible as credit, also does not count as original content under the new rules.

What This Means For Aggregator Accounts On Instagram

This change will not affect how Instagram shows content from aggregator accounts to users who already follow them. 

The restriction applies only to recommendations, meaning such content will no longer appear in suggested feeds or the Discover tab for users who don't follow those accounts.

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