Instagram is experimenting with bringing tools to control your own algorithm to Threads, its X rival.
The feature was uncovered while in development by reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi, who discovered the code and told TechCrunch it’s related to the algorithm configuration tools that are also coming to Instagram. When contacted, Instagram confirmed the product is still an internal prototype for the time being and is not currently being tested with users.
However, the Instagram account being used for this feature is live at @threads.algo and is followed by several Meta engineers.
According to Paluzzi’s findings, Threads users would be shown a screen explaining they could tag this account to tell Threads what they want to see more or less of in their feed.
The idea is similar to one Elon Musk recently said was coming to X. In a post, Musk suggested that a future version of his platform would allow users to tag Grok — X’s AI chatbot — to adjust their feed in real time, and that the X algorithm would be “purely AI by November.”
On Threads, the algorithm-configuration feature is tied to Instagram’s larger efforts to revamp its main app to emphasize Reels and recommendations. Instagram announced Wednesday that it will soon allow users to more directly control the app’s algorithm by choosing which topics they’d like to see more or less of in their feeds.
This isn’t Instagram’s first effort aimed at letting users configure their experience. The company launched alternative feeds (Following and Favorites) in 2022, and on Threads, it began allowing users to switch between their main For You feed and a Following feed back in 2023.
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These changes come after years of congressional hearings examining social media’s influence on youth through platform algorithms. These concerns have also influenced the creation of more modern, open social networks like Bluesky, where users pick their algorithm and moderation options.
In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Instagram head Adam Mosseri demonstrated how users could click a button at the top of their feed to access an interface where they could select suggested topics they’d like to see more of, or search for and enter their own. Users could also type in topics they didn’t want to see as much of from the same screen.
Instagram explained that the feature could help the algorithm better adapt to users’ changing moods and interests. For instance, if your favorite football team is having a bad season, you might want to see fewer football-related posts for a while.
Threads, meanwhile, offers a different kind of app experience. Its posts, replies, and updates move faster, particularly as news breaks or major events unfold, similar to Elon Musk’s X. It may make less sense, then, to have users delving into settings every time they want to make changes to their algorithm. A more real-time interface for “tagging the algorithm” could work better.
Users on text-focused social apps have grown accustomed to using tools where they reply to posts to take action. Beyond tools that organize long threads into easier-to-read posts, X users also regularly tag Grok to ask questions about others’ posts.
Also on Wednesday, Mosseri said Instagram is getting a makeover that will reorient the experience around Reels, DMs, and recommendations.
Instagram did not provide further information about when or if the algorithm configuration feature would launch publicly.
