Instagram

Instagram made major changes to its algorithm this year that have dramatically affected reach and engagement for small and large accounts (even big creators are saying their engagement has dropped significantly.) Instagram is prioritizing original content, watch time, “value-driven” engagement (saves and shares), and fast hook in the first few seconds, especially for Reels and carousel posts. A few stats I found: The average engagement rate on Instagram dropped to around 0.45%–0.5% in mid-2025, its lowest ever, with a 28% year-over-year decline. Fewer than 1 in 10 followers typically see any given post, regardless of account size. As of 2025, Instagram rewards time-on-platform, watch time, and the number of shares/saves far more than simple likes or follower numbers. Here’s what they say they “reward”: Originality: Posts that aren't recycled or reposted get prioritized. Duplicate content is heavily penalized—only the original gets full reach. Strong Hooks: Especially for Reels, the first 2–3 seconds must capture attention to avoid being buried. Early retention is critical. Shares and Saves: “Send to a friend" and bookmarking get weighted much higher than likes or comments. Valuable, informative or entertaining posts do best. Reels and Carousels: These formats drive reach because they keep people engaged longer. Static photos are deprioritized unless truly outstanding or promoted. Practical Tips the more niche you can be the better! who knows what’s happening with hashtags now but I still use 3-5 important ones. avoid too much reposting from others, including viral memes or shared images. Use personal stories or unique insights. I would use reposting as a means to start relationships with people, influencers and companies that could be potential partners or customers. Start every Reel or video with an immediate hook—a surprising moment, question, or statement in the first 1–3 seconds. For carousels, pack them with valuable tips, stories, before/afters, or helpful guides people want to save or share. Actively encourage followers to save or share posts through calls-to-action in captions. Don’t post and ghost! Increase platform presence by posting spontaneous updates, engaging in comments, and joining trending conversations. Instagram also rewards accounts that stimulate real discussion. Audit your account for fake/inactive followers, as their presence can further dilute reach. Hope this helps a little. It’s super frustrating! More on reddit.com

It's dying because of reels. It ruined the platform. People open the app mindlessly scroll through 300 reals that are 1 second long. Close app, rince and repeat 10 times a day. That is it no one likes posts anymore, no on interacts anymore its just consume brain rot all day. Nobody visits the home page anymore, nobody watches stories any more they’re all addicted to that stupid flicking up on videos all day. At least photos were a little bit healthier to look at since you still had to use your imagination. I remember before reels seeing a travel photo and being like I want to go there and you could imagine what it would be like. Now it’s garbage reels with some talking head running around ruining the vibe of the place to the point you don’t want to go anymore if you see these videos. More on reddit.com

It's not about privacy or fighting Big Tech (because if it were, just deleting the account would solve it). Different generations of users were exposed to different uses of Instagram. Older people, who joined Instagram early on, are used to posting on the feed because that's how the social network worked for many years. Younger people interact with Instagram differently, because when they joined, Instagram Stories was already available. More on reddit.com

Starts with good consistent content. You should be dropping posts 2-6 times a day. Use the hashtags. Edit - Regarding "2-6 times being too much" - It's not what you like. That frequency is backed with data. If you lose 5 followers and gain 25 that's a good deal. Next follow Gary Vee's $1.80 strategy - Basically you search 10 hash-tags that are relevant to your audience. Go to the top posts for each of those hash tags and leave a genuine and well-thought out comment on all 9 posts for each hash-tag. The idea is you're dropping your 2 cents on 90 images. Once you start to build an audience start DMing people trying to get shout outs and stuff. More on reddit.com