Instagram is one of the leading social media sites when it comes to building a loyal following. Next only to Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp, Instagram is loved and regularly used by many because of the amazing user experience it has to offer. This is why the number of Instagram users is increasing rapidly and has reached 1.318 billion users as of January 2023 (Datareportal, 2023) among the 4.76 billion total social media users, putting it in fourth place.
Currently, many users are making the shift from Facebook to Instagram because of the relatively sophisticated user base of the latter. When compared to Facebook and Twitter, it is simple to use and easy to sort through your posts. You can also use Instagram's easy customization and access limitation features to filter out unwanted comments on your posts and make them less visible.
Instagram values its consumer experience a lot and is constantly striving to find and implement new ways to make it better.
Its inclusion of reels in 2020 is a competitive response to TikTok, where you upload short, fun, or informative videos for your followers. These brief videos can last for up to 15 seconds. You can record and edit them simultaneously. There are multitudes of audio, visual effects, and creative tools. You can have as much fun with it as you want.
The reels can be filtered separately by clicking on the grid icon on your home page, making it even more accessible to users.
Instagram values its consumer experience a lot and is constantly striving to make it better for you. Therefore, while it constantly pushes many of its posts to you that you are not actively seeking out, it also provides a way to get out of it.
There are many reasons why you don’t want to have suggested reels on your profile. It can be for the purpose of decluttering because it gets too overwhelming for you. It might be because you don’t like the posts and don’t think they are relevant to you. Or, perhaps you want to use Instagram for the sole purpose of why it was created initially. That is, to share pictures of your interests and yourself with your loved ones and stay updated on their whereabouts.
Whatever it may be, you have the full freedom to make the experience the best for you. You need to find out which type of interface works the best for you and Instagram will within its limited features try to provide you with that.
So, like every other common problem, Instagram has an easy and quick fix to get the problem of suggested reels solved.
What Are "Suggested Reels” on Instagram?
Instagram has introduced a lot of new features on the platform. It is now not considered just an app to post aesthetic pictures of yourself. Rather it is now associated with much more.
The introduction of the Live feature has made it popular among influencers and celebrities to connect with their audience directly and have one on one conversations.
The introduction of IGTV has allowed users to post videos much longer than the one minute they had to post singular videos.
Finally, reels were Instagram’s response to TikTok which was quickly becoming popular. So, to hold steadfast in its position as the fourth biggest social media platform, it introduced Instagram reels.
Instagram reels are short 15-second videos that can be posted from your account. The reels show up separately from your other posts on your account. There are fun edits and effects, both audio and visual, to make the videos more fun or informative. Instagram provides you with multitudes of options to get creative with it.
Even as a user, you can easily scroll through multiple suggested reels at a time similar to TikTok, and enjoy.
Understanding Instagram's Algorithm for Suggested Reels
So, you might wonder why Instagram is suggesting the reels of people you have never heard of or don’t follow. Instagram has a unique way of interpreting your interests. Its algorithm analyzes your behavior and usage patterns.
Firstly, it sees the accounts you follow. Instagram identifies and analyzes your saved posts, as well as the types of posts with which you interact the most outside of your following, to find patterns.
Then it sees your history of connections. This includes how you have connected with posts and accounts that are similar to this.
The rest are about the virality of the post. Instagram constantly pushes new content at you that you are not actively seeking out. This is because Instagram makes a lot of money from advertisements, and the app benefits the more time you spend on it.
If people are reacting to a post more, it has every chance of showing up on other people’s pages. If people are following an account at large, the same thing can happen.
So, since Instagram is a social media platform, your time is its currency. If you want to use it for your own enjoyment and to increase your reach, that’s more than okay.
You can read about how Instagram’s suggestion algorithm works here. However, if you want to practice restraint and do not want any more hyper-fixations you want to get hooked with, keeping a minimalist interface might be what is best for you.
Removing Suggested Reels on Instagram
We have seen from the above sections why sometimes these suggested reels can do more harm than good. It might show things that you don’t want to see. Even the posts of your followers can show up lower in your feed while these reels fill up your homepage. Therefore, it is reasonable why you would want to remove suggested reels
However, the removal of the suggested reels is a feature not yet implemented on the web app. So, this can only be fixed in your Android and iOS apps. Make sure you have installed the Instagram app on your phone.
There is a quick way to remove suggested reels from your Instagram feed with a few simple and easy steps. They are:
- Log in to your Instagram account
- Click on the reels button in the bottom middle of your home page.
- Select a suggested reel that you don’t particularly enjoy or one that doesn’t meet your interest
- Once you've found that, click on the lower right corner, of the drop-down box and click on “Not Interested”.
A pop-up will be shown displaying all the possible reasons why you would not like this reel and why you asked Instagram to prevent showing videos of similar patterns to you. You can choose the one that best fits your problem and click on it.
And you are done! Instagram will take this as a learning experience and use this data about your behavior pattern to modify your experience and suggestions accordingly.
Hiding Suggested Reels on Instagram
You don’t have to remove the suggested reels altogether. Instagram also provides you with the option to hide suggested reels without removing them entirely.
Here are some tips for customizing your suggested reels experience:
So, as usual, after you have installed your Instagram app and logged into your account, go to the reels section. To get there, click the bottom center of your News Feed. Next, you have to scroll through the suggested reels until you come across the one you don’t really like that much
Click on the three dots at the bottom right and a drop-down menu will appear
Select "Not Interested” from the drop-down menu.
From there, you can select “Do not suggest reels with this audio” if it is the audio that bothers you. If its a topic you are not too keen on, you can select the option that says “This topic does not interest me”
Instagram will use each time you do this with a suggested reel as a tool to customize your interface, making your Instagram experience more enjoyable.
Blocking Accounts That Frequently Appear in Suggested Reels
You can block accounts that frequently appear in suggested reels to stop seeing posts from them altogether. Make sure you absolutely want nothing to do with their content before you decide on that.
Managing blocked accounts is an important thing too. You can see a list of all the accounts that you have blocked. And whether you want to backtrack on your decision to block them, give them another chance, or finally be ready to actively pursue their content, Instagram makes it very easy to unblock the accounts.
Managing Suggested Reels on Instagram's Explore Page
You can also remove suggested reels from the Explore page just as you do on your News Feed. With a few tips, you can easily curate your Explore page content for an overall better experience.
The process is the same. The step-by-step guide is as follows:
- Go to your explore page
- Select the post or reel that you don’t like or aren’t interested in
- Click on the three dots on the top right if it is a post and bottom right if it is a reel.
- Click on “Not Interested”
- From the drop-down menu of the possible reasons, click on the one you relate to the most
Your Instagram page will be modified accordingly the more you do this.
Using Third-party Apps to Manage Suggested Reels
If you are too lazy to do it yourself, or you can think of better ways to spend your time, you can also use a third-party app to do your work for you. This can be particularly useful if you are a founder or a businessman. You can use this time to build your brand and focus on its product and services rather than what redundant reel Instagram is suggesting to you.
These can be of many types. You have multiple different options and their specific features. For example:
Socialplug.io is the best app to market and boost engagement on your posts
Tailwind schedules your posts so you don’t have to worry about the right time to post them.
Canva is a great way to create posts using the multitudes of templates and customization features it provides.
SocialPlug to Increase and Boost the Instagram Comments on Your Reels
We have talked about how suggested reels might be a bad experience for a lot of users. However, from a company’s point of view, it can be a great way to increase visibility and awareness for your product.
The users that don’t find it relevant can remove or hide the reels by following the methods mentioned. But for those who are intrigued by it, it will increase your chances of users endorsing the product.
So, there are a few ways you can make sure to land on the pages and find new customers for your brand. Your Instagram reels will show up on other people’s feeds, and the more engagement they have. The specifics of it can be found in the algorithm section of this article.
Socialplug.io is a social media marketing agency and our service ranges across multiple platforms like YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, Discord, Reddit, Instagram, and Telegram. You can choose the social media platform of your choice and then specify how many likes or followers you need. We have a customer service department open 24/7 to answer any questions you might have concerning the product.
To avail of our service, simply enter the URL of your Instagram posts or reels. Then specify the number of views and likes you want. The views and likes are delivered instantly, and they will stay forever under your posts. The accounts are legitimate; however, they will not engage anymore with your media unless specifically asked.
The best way to describe Socialplug.io is that “We grow the audience, you build the retention." No signup or login information is required, so your privacy and safety are guaranteed.
We charge 0.04 dollars per view and per like for your Instagram posts. The likes and views are delivered instantly upon ordering. Socialplug.io will provide you with the highest quality comments that can be customized according to your preferences. A maximum of 1 million views and 1 million likes can be purchased per Instagram reel.
This will help build your brand's authenticity and social proof, therefore bringing you one step closer to monetizing your business.
Conclusion
Instagram is a social media platform determined to give its users the best possible experience. While it will do its best to push and market certain content toward you, it will also give you ways to move past it with some simple steps.
However, this feature is only exclusive to iOS and Android apps and is not yet available on the website.
Simply click on the reels section of your News Feed and find the reel that you do not like. Select the three dots in the bottom right section and click on “Not Interested”. You can customize this by specifying the particular reason why you might not like this post so Instagram can filter out which posts might be relevant for you.
You can use the tactics we have provided you with to improve your Instagram experience. We also encourage you to continue learning and experimenting with different strategies for managing suggested reels on Instagram.
