Are you curious if someone who searched for you on Instagram will end up on your suggested list? You may be wondering what level of control you have over who shows up on your Instagram feed and who does not. In this article, we’ll dive into the details of how other Instagram users may find their way onto your suggested list based on their searching activity. Keep reading to learn more about how the Instagram algorithm works and what kind of control you have over who appears on your suggested list.
1. What Is the Instagram Suggested List?
The Instagram Suggested List is a great place to find new and interesting accounts to follow. It is a list of accounts tailored to the user’s prior searches and posts, making it a powerful tool for discovering relevant accounts that fit their interests. Here’s what you need to know about it:
- Where Is the Suggested List? The Instagram Suggested List appears on the home page of the Instagram app when you log in. It can also be accessed by tapping the “Explore” tab and then selecting the “Suggested” tab on the bottom of the Explore page.
- How Are Accounts Chosen? The algorithm behind the Instagram Suggested List works by analyzing the posts and accounts users have seen, liked, and followed. It also considers their searches, location, and other data to recommend accounts that are tailored to their preferences.
- Can It Be Edited? Users can easily hide or mute accounts they don’t want to see on the Suggested List by tapping the three dots in the top right corner of a post and selecting the “Hide or Mute” option. This will update the list to better fit the user’s taste.
The Instagram Suggested List is a great way to find new and interesting accounts that you may have missed – use it to your advantage and discover exciting new content! It’s easy to customize and tailor the list to your taste for the most engaging experience.
2. How Is the Suggested List Generated?
The suggested list of contacts is generated according to the users’ preferences, contacts and contexts.
- Preferences: The system takes input from users in terms of which contacts and context they would like to be suggested. This helps the system ‘learn’ their behavior and customizes the list of contacts accordingly.
- Contacts: The list is also generated based on the user’s connections, i.e. contacts from their phone or email contacts. This helps the system to build relationships and analyze the user’s connections.
- Contexts: The list also considers the contexts of user interactions, such as location, recent conversations and topics. This helps the system to identify relationships between users and contexts that may be pertinent for contact suggestions.
The list is constantly being recalculated and updated according to user preferences and interactions. This makes the list of contact suggestions dynamic and constantly evolving. Furthermore, the list is tailored to the user’s particular context and contacts, allowing for a personalized and tailored experience.
Finally, the suggested list is also subject to website optimization, which ensure that popular contacts are placed higher up on the list to improve user navigation and efficiency. As such, the list is also tailored to the user’s web preferences, as well as their contact preferences, ensuring an optimal and personalized user experience.
3. Can Searching for a Person Cause Them to Show Up in Your Suggested List?
Searching for a person on social media can influence who shows up in your suggested list of people to follow. If you search for someone, it will take into account all of the factors listed below:
- Who you’re friends with
- Who that person is friends with
- Comparing profile interests with yours
- Search history
- Profiles you’ve interacted with
The data that is collected is used to suggest other likeminded people who could be people you know, or those with similar interests. The more often you search for a particular person, the more likely it will suggest other people linked to that searched individual.
Notably, search for a public figure, celebrity or politician will not necessarily mean that they appear in your suggested list of people to follow. This is because the platform wouldn’t prioritize their account over the profiles with whom an individual is already connected.
4. What Other Factors Impact Who Appears in the Suggested List?
Suggested list appearance is also determined by other factors that are external to the audience signals from the page to which a person is connected. Facebook takes into account how active someone is in all aspects of the platform, such as:
- Comments, reactions, and posts of the user,
- Pages and accounts they follow, and
- How the user interacts with the content.
Due to this, even if someone is connected to a page that influences the ranking of the suggested list, they may not appear on the list if they have not been active on the platform or their engagement has been minimal. Facebook also takes into account other external factors, such as how often someone is blocked from posts because of low relevance, how many times a user hides a post, and how recently the user has engaged with other relevant content.
Another factor that impacts the suggested list comes from the accounts followed by the user. For instance, if someone follows a page or account that is similar to the page that generates the suggested list, then this page is more likely to be the first result. This is the same for other suggested list selection processes, such as Ads and News Feed.
5. How to Opt Out of Appearing in Someone Else’s Suggested List
Stop appearing in someone else’s suggested list
The main way to prevent people from appearing in someone else’s suggested list is to adjust their settings. Your friends are able to add you as a suggested contact for their friends unless you have blocked them or Hide your Profile from Search. If someone has already added you to their suggested list, you can opt to be removed by going to the Settings and clicking Remove from Suggested List.
You can also adjust your status update privacy preferences. For example, if you do not want your name to appear in the suggested list of people they may know on Facebook, you can adjust the privacy settings accordingly. Additionally, you can set up a list of People You May Know and decide who is eligible to be featured in other people’s Suggested Lists.
It is important to remember that even if you opt out of appearing in someone else’s suggested list, you may still be added to their suggested list by another person. For instance, a friend or family member of yours may have added you to their suggested list. In that case, the only way to be removed from it is to contact the person who added you and ask them to remove you from their list.
From appearing in the “suggested” tab to audience targeting tools for businesses, it’s good to be aware of what can be done with this information. Knowing why and how to prevent certain things from appearing can help you manage your account privacy better, and have a better overall experience with Instagram.
