The Similarities between Web Search and Instagram’s Feed Ranking Algorithm
Article: https://later.com/blog/how-instagram-algorithm-works/
Due to the dynamic nature and the abundance of information on the web, fulfilling the needs of users as they browse the web is a complex task. In class, we learned about the idea of hubs and authorities as a method for ranking web pages. Pages are evaluated by their level of endorsement while simultaneously, the quality of their endorsers are evaluated. This process of ranking content and adjusting the visibility of certain information based on their relevance or popularity is being applied in various other settings.
For example, in recent years, Instagram has moved away from chronological feeds to displaying tailored content. The article linked to this post describes the algorithm that Instagram uses to determine the order with which to display posts. Similar to the idea of conducting a web vote to rank pages and determine the order to display search results, Instagram prioritizes posts based on their level of engagement. It incorporates data on the number of comments, likes, shares, and views when ranking a user’s feed. Furthermore, the algorithm considers the user’s relationship with the people who are interacting with the posts. For instance, content that is being liked by users who a user actively engages with are prioritized over content that is being engaged with by less closely connected individuals. This is similar to the idea of evaluating the quality of the hubs themselves during a web vote. A web page with good authority is one that is highly endorsed, particularly by good hubs. Along the same lines, a post is ranked highly by Instagram is one that experiences a high level of engagement, particularly by close friends.
In addition, the Instagram algorithm is constantly changing as new data becomes available. This is comparable to the iterative process of running the Authority Update Rule followed by the Hub Update Rule during link-based ranking. As more information becomes available, the rankings are further refined. Overall, many parallels can be drawn between the mechanisms of web search and the Instagram feed ranking algorithm.