Instagram Tests Tool to Help You Clean Up Your Explore Feed

Instagram is testing two new ways to customize your social media experience.

Both features are still in the experimental phase(Opens in a new window), but they’re intended to make it easier for users to curate their feed by cutting away the fat.

First up is the ability to mark multiple Explore posts as Not interested. “We’ll immediately hide those posts and refrain from showing you similar content in the future,” Instagram says.

(Credit: Instagram)

Currently, you have to register your disinterest in posts or Reels one by one. From within the Explore tab, you can long-press a minimized video and select Not interested. Or open the post, tap the three-dot menu, and select Not interested from there. Tap undo if you do this by accident.

Current one-by-one ‘Not interested’ options
(Credit: PCMag)

From the Reels tab, tap the three-dot menu next to a video and select Not interested. Instagram will then ask you why: you’ve seen too many Reels like it, you don’t want to see clips with specific audio, you don’t like the host account, the video makes you uncomfortable, or the topic simply doesn’t interest you.

Starting soon, Instagram will also begin trialing the option to hide suggested posts with hashtags or captions that contain certain words, phrases, or emoji that you find triggering, unhelpful, or just plain boring. “Whether you’re seeing something that’s not relevant, or have moved on from something you used to like,” Instagram says, “you can use this feature to stop seeing content that’s not interesting to you.”

The company didn’t say how widespread the test will be, so you may not see these options in your feed just yet. Until then, Instagram encourages people to use existing controls, like Favorites and Following feed orders, snoozing suggested posts for 30 days, and tapping into recently expanded Sensitive Content Controls.