A DM Share Is Now 15 Times More Powerful Than a Like: How Instagram’s New Algorithm Works

If your Instagram strategy has been all about chasing likes, it’s time for a rethink. The platform has rolled out a major shift in how it ranks content, and this one changes the game for creators, brands, and everyday users alike.

Saves and Shares Are the New Currency

According to Instagram, a single DM share now carries the weight of roughly 15 likes, while a save is valued at around 10 likes. Follower counts and likes, once the holy grail of social media success, barely move the needle anymore.

Instagram head Adam Mosseri has been vocal about this shift throughout the year, repeatedly stressing that watch time and genuine engagement — not vanity metrics — are what the algorithm now rewards.

A New Way to Control Your Feed

Alongside the ranking overhaul, Instagram has also expanded its “Your Algo” feature to all English-speaking users, and it’s no longer limited to Reels and Explore. It now works on the main feed too.

The feature lets users see exactly which interests Instagram has assigned to them, and gives them the ability to fine-tune their feed by choosing to see more or less of specific topics.

What This Means for Creators

For Delhi’s growing community of content creators and social media managers, the message is clear: a pretty post with a lot of likes is no longer enough. Content now needs to be worth saving or sharing in a DM — the kind of thing people want to send to a friend, not just double-tap and scroll past.

Original, watch-time-friendly content stands to benefit the most under this new system, while generic, engagement-bait posts are likely to see their reach quietly decline.