Instagram, TikTok and the Power of Original Content

Instagram recently announced the latest change to their algorithm. From their blog - 

“Historically because of how we’ve ranked content, creators with large followings and aggregators of reposted content have gotten more reach in recommendations than smaller, original content creators. We think it’s important to correct this to give all creators a more equal chance of breaking through to new audiences.”

It makes for a great headline. “Instagram changes its algorithm to favor original content over aggregators.” It is also gratifying to see one of the largest media companies in the world acknowledging the value of original content. But another thought popped into my mind. 

First, this is all about TikTok. 

TikTok built a better algorithm, and Instagram is trying to beat them at their own game. What is that game? Keeping users on their platform as long as possible. That’s it. At the end of the day Meta, TikTok, Google, Netflix, you name them…they all want the same thing… as much of our attention as they can get. 

With that endgame in mind, it feels like Instagram has realized that in a TikTok world, original content works better than reruns. Variety matters more than familiarity. New hits are better than old hits. It’s about delivering the next shot of dopamine and excitement, over and over again. The best, most engaging content wins, and that's what original content can provide.

So when Instagram says, “We have been working on a new way to rank recommendations to give all creators an equal chance of breaking through,” I believe them. But they aren't making the change out of the goodness of their heart to help the smaller original content creator compete against the bigger guys. They are making it because original content works, and they need as many creators contributing original content as possible to keep people sticking around longer and longer. If giving original content creators a better shot at success helps encourage more content creation for Instagram, that's a win-win.