Instagram Feed Controls Move Out of Settings Into Scrolling

Instagram’s head Adam Mosseri has shared prototypes of new feed controls that would move the platform’s “Your Algorithm” customization tool out of settings and into the scrolling experience itself. The feature lets users select topics to see more of and filter out content they want to avoid, but right now it requires navigating menus most people probably never open.

The prototypes rely on gesture shortcuts. One pulls down on the main feed to open the customization menu directly. Another lets users swipe up on a Reel to surface the same controls. A third option places feedback buttons beneath individual Reels, letting users signal in the moment whether they want more of a given type of video.

The friction problem here is real. Recommendation controls buried in settings menus are functionally invisible to most users, and Instagram knows it. Moving that layer into the scroll itself is an acknowledgment that the current placement isn’t working.

The tension these tools don’t resolve

Even if the gestures ship, they address a different complaint than the one Instagram hears most often. Mosseri’s own framing acknowledges that users keep asking for a straightforward feed of accounts they actually follow, which is a structurally different request from “let me tune the algorithm more easily.” Better customization tools give users more ways to shape a recommendation engine, not a way to turn it off.

Instagram is still collecting feedback to determine which of these options moves forward. The challenge the company names for itself is giving users a sense of real control while keeping its recommendation system functioning as designed, which is a careful way of saying the algorithm’s interests and the user’s interests are not always the same thing.