Instagram is cracking down on content aggregators.
On Thursday, Meta confirmed that accounts that regularly reshare content from others as photos or carousels may not be shown in recommendations to new audiences. This change is being made to prioritize original content, and Meta shared its own carousel post on Instagram to outline guidelines as to what this constitutes.
Per the company, original content includes photos or videos you took, content you designed (like a photo series or how-to guide) or material edits you make to existing content that “meaningfully enhances” it. This could also include a meme, which Meta notes “transforms” the original photo or video into something else.
“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,” explained Meta.
On the flip side, this means low-effort repurposed content, like slapping a watermark onto a photo or using a screenshot of someone else’s content with the username visible.
Of course, these changes don’t prevent you from seeing this kind of regurgitated content if you already follow accounts that spread it. But now, at least, you should start to see it less if you’re just scrolling through recommendations.
