Instagram's feed has been a mess for some time now, but a new announcement will bring major changes to the algorithm by which the app recommends content to users.

The most significant change, first published in The Verge, directly targets content aggregators (accounts that steal and repost other people's tweets, reels, posts, threads, etc.). Typically, many of these accounts cut the video before the important parts or do not credit the original creators. Occasionally, these accounts tag the original in the caption.

Adam Mosely, head of Instagram, said in an Instagram post, "We need to do more to promote our reach to creators who make original content."

As much as aggregators clogging our feeds annoy us, Instagram does not seem to like these types of accounts. In a post, Mosely said that Instagram will remove aggregators from its recommendations.

"To the aggregator accounts out there: we encourage you to find ways to create your own content so that you can continue to be recommended by people who are not following you.

Specifically, aggregator accounts that share other people's content more than 10 times per month will be repelled from the recommendation algorithm. What is most interesting about this announcement is that Instagram is not just cutting off aggregators. Mosely claims that the updated system will seek out original creators, if possible, and recommend those posts instead of posts from aggregators. He admits that this may not work because many submissions are ripped from other platforms.

For those who enjoy following aggregator accounts, their posts will appear in the feed. However, you will not see as many repost accounts recommended to you in the feed or explorer tab.

It will be interesting to see what impact this system update will actually have. In addition to aggregators, Instagram is also crawling with fan pages, Pinterest-style inspiration accounts, and organizations that repost infographics and news. For the last one, creating original graphics and posts may outpace reposting.

According to The Verge, part of an upcoming update will also change the way reels are ranked, with the goal of giving smaller accounts more distribution.

According to Mosseri, updates to the system will not be released until early summer.