Instagram Reposting Is Dead: What To Do For Content Instead
Instagram's Summer 2024 update has sent shockwaves through the platform. With changes announced by Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, repost accounts face new challenges while the algorithm tightens its grip on duplicated content. This evolution leaves many users wondering how to maintain engagement and reach without relying heavily on reposting user-generated materials. Today, we’ll dive into the implications of these changes and present innovative content strategies that can help users thrive in the ever-changing landscape of Instagram.
Overview of the Instagram Summer 2024 Update
On April 30, 2024, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram as of writing, took to his own Instagram account to announce new updates being made to the algorithm. According to Mosseri, in an effort to ‘reward’ and drive reach to original content creators, Instagram’s new algorithm would amplify original content through a variety of ways, including:
Detecting reposted content and replacing it with the original post in Recommendations.
Adding a label to reposted content which links back to the original post.
Repost accounts, or ‘aggregators’ as Mosseri refers to them, will be penalized for repeatedly reposting content, making them unable to show up on Instagram’s recommendations page.
So, what does this mean for repost accounts and business accounts that repost user-generated content? While this update would be beneficial to many content creators, reposting user-generated content will make reaching new accounts and growing on Instagram challenging, with most of the traffic being redirected to the original creator. At the end of the reel, Mosseri encourages aggregators to instead work towards creating their own original content.
Instagram accounts that repost content while putting their own spin on it, such as adding their own commentary, will not be affected by this new update according to Mosseri.
Am I Still Allowed to Repost Content on Instagram?
Yes. You are still allowed to repost content on Instagram through the collaboration feature. When a user creates a post or reel, they can invite another user to be a collaborator. The invited user will receive a notification and can accept the invitation. Once accepted, the post will appear on both users' profiles simultaneously, and they will share the likes and comments. By collaborating, both accounts can tap into each other’s audience, potentially increasing their reach and engagement. When users view the post, they can see both users' names and view their feeds directly from the collaboration.
Although this could be a life-saving alternative for accounts that repost, the solution is not simple. This new avenue would require accounts to actively seek out original content creators and reach an agreement to post their content together. While accounts with large audiences and reach may be able to pull this off, not every account will find the same success. This can also serve as a barrier to business accounts that seek to utilize user-generated content, as this content cannot be identified until it has already been posted.
How Can Instagram Tell When Content is Reposted?
Instagram does not publicly disclose how its algorithm detects reposted content, but there are many known techniques for identifying two photos or videos that are the same.
When a photo or video is uploaded, it contains metadata that includes information about when and how it was created. If two posts have identical timestamps or similar metadata, Instagram can flag it.
Another common technique for other social media platforms is ‘hashing’. Hashing is a technique that creates a unique digital fingerprint of a post. If a user reposts content that has the same hash, Instagram will recognize it as duplicate content.
In some cases, these techniques aren’t even necessary. Advanced algorithms can analyse the visual aspects of images and videos. If two pieces of content are visually similar, even when edited or cropped, Instagram’s algorithm may still be able to track the identical visual aspects between different posts.
Instagram and Repost Accounts: A History
Instagram has a long history with repost accounts, but in order to explore this history in full, we must first define what repost accounts are on Instagram. Repost accounts are profiles that share content primarily made by other content creators on Instagram or other platforms. They are not exclusive to Instagram and can easily be found on multiple social media platforms. Ideally, these repost accounts will ask for permission to repost the content and credit the original creators.
From 2010 to around 2015, Instagram was initially created as a platform focused on personal sharing, but as Instagram’s popularity rose, so did its potential for users to capture a broader audience. This, combined with the aspect of online anonymity, led to the widespread creation of repost accounts—accounts that typically didn’t disclose or showcase the person behind the profile, but rather a collection of Instagram’s best and most engaging content.
By 2015, influencer culture on Instagram began to grow substantially, and with that, so too did repost accounts. Their ability to curate content that showcased the current trends and aesthetics kept them relevant throughout Instagram’s next decade. Repost accounts also played a role in promoting and bringing publicity to smaller, up-and-coming creators, leading many users to allow their content to be reposted.
For the past decade, Instagram repost accounts have comprised a wide variety of niches and interests, from pets and inspirational quotes to art and funny clips in general. The content strategy repost accounts utilized was not only simple and quick to implement but incredibly effective at achieving consistent engagement and building a following, making them prime targets for brand partnerships and digital advertising.
With the new update penalizing reposting, it’s clear that repost accounts and other accounts that repost regularly will need to adapt to survive. This may require a complete overhaul of their content strategy, but we’ve compiled some ideas on what content to create instead of reposting on Instagram. Each alternative seeks to maintain some of the simplicity and speed reposting once offered, while still creating high-quality, engaging content.
Alternatives To Reposted Content For Instagram
Reposting With A Twist
Of the reposting alternatives here, this option offers the most familiarity. By reposting with a twist, you can bypass Instagram’s new algorithm while maintaining a similar content strategy that closely replicates the same level of speed and effectiveness.
By reposting with a twist, we mean continuing to repost content while putting your own personalized spin on it. There are several ways this can be done:
Add your own commentary on the content, putting your own angle on it.
Make creative edits to the content, whether by turning the original video’s sound into an off-the-cuff remix or editing it to fit with a popular trend.
Film a reaction video to the content.
Share takeaways from the content, whether it be lessons learned or thoughts from your own experience.
These are incredibly easy ways to make the content unique to you, allowing you to avoid Instagram’s reposting penalization.
Repost Your Old Content
If you’re a business account that occasionally reposts content, you likely already have a plethora of your own unique content to draw from. Reposting your old content, especially content that wasn’t initially picked up by the algorithm and lacked engagement, can squeeze more value out of what you’ve already created. This will give overlooked content a second chance at driving organic reach and engagement, with little to no extra effort on your part.
You should still continue to create unique and original content, but reposting your own content instead of other users’ content can provide the same buffer time for content creation that your original reposting once offered.
Repurpose Blog Content
Blog content serves a major role in any business’ content strategy, though it tends to be one of the most time-consuming marketing tasks. One easy way to offset the time it takes to create valuable blog content is by repurposing the best parts for social media. This eliminates the time spent brainstorming and researching content ideas, as all the necessary work has already been completed when creating the blog articles.
When creating social media content based on your own blog articles, you can promote your business’ blog within the caption. This will result in an interconnected content strategy that organically drives more traffic to your company’s website and blog.
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Hire A Marketing Agency
Over half (58%) of businesses say that their main challenge with marketing is a lack of resources for content creation. Content creation isn’t always easy, especially for small businesses or accounts that are managed by a single person. When resources and time are tight, creating content that is consistently high-quality and valuable isn’t always realistic.
At Tactycs, we’ve helped dozens of our clients enhance their social media marketing and content creation through our expert strategies and tactics. We encourage you to leverage the expertise of agencies like ours to continue creating engaging content with regular postings. Hiring a marketing agency to take on aspects like social media content creation, paid digital advertising, website design, and email marketing enables you to spend more time on your business’ larger goals.
Contact Tactycs today to learn more about how we can help your business grow and adapt to challenging algorithm changes on Instagram and other platforms.
As Instagram embraces a new era focused on original content, repost accounts must rethink their strategies to remain relevant. While the update presents initial challenges, it also paves the way for fresh opportunities in content creation and genuine collaboration. By exploring techniques such as repurposing past posts and engaging with original creators, users can adapt and flourish in this evolving environment. Additionally, seeking assistance from marketing agencies like Tactycs can streamline content creation efforts. Remember that success in the ever-evolving social media landscape will require adaptability, creativity, and the willingness to embrace change.
