Over the last two years, many Instagram users have noticed a striking pattern: personal posts photos of friends, weekend moments, or everyday life are getting far fewer likes than before. This change is not limited to individual accounts; it appears to be a widespread shift. The decline has led many people to question whether Instagram’s algorithm is deprioritising traditional feed posts or whether user behaviour itself has changed.
The reality is not tied to one single cause. Instead, it seems to be a combination of confirmed platform trends, probable behavioural changes, and indirect algorithmic effects. This blog explores the issue as a hypothesis, supported where possible by publicly known information, while clearly identifying what is uncertain
1. A New Way of Using Instagram: Stories and DMs First
One of the most notable changes in recent years is how users begin their Instagram session. Earlier, opening the app typically meant scrolling through the Home Feed to see friends’ posts. But today, many people report a very different flow:
- Open Instagram
- Immediately tap Stories
- Reply or react in DMs
- Leave the app without scrolling the feed much
This pattern aligns with what Meta has acknowledged: private sharing has been growing rapidly, while public engagement (likes, comments) has become less dominant. More users are communicating through DMs and Story replies, which naturally reduces time spent on the Feed.
This does not prove that people have stopped seeing personal posts entirely, but it strongly suggests that the Feed may now be a secondary destination for many users.
2. The “Reels Trap” Hypothesis
Another behavioural pattern that users frequently report involves Reels. Many describe the following situation:
- They open Instagram intending to check the Feed.
- They see a Reel on Explore or Feed and tap it accidentally.
- The immersive Reels interface takes over.
- They scroll for several minutes.
- By the time they exit, they close the app or return to Stories/DMs instead of the Feed.
While Instagram has never released an official statistic showing how often users enter Reels unintentionally, the interface design undeniably makes it easy to slip into short-form video.
Most third-party analytics companies agree on a broad trend: time spent watching Reels has grown significantly in 2023–2025. Exact percentages vary from source to source, but the direction is consistent Reels now occupy a major portion of user attention.
This increased attention on Reels directly means less attention on Feed posts, especially personal content that does not compete well with algorithmically optimised short videos.
3. Has Instagram Changed Its Priorities?
Public statements from Instagram leadership show that the platform has been evolving from a photo-based network to a video-first platform. Adam Mosseri has repeatedly said Instagram wants to support creators and compete with short-form video platforms.
What we can say with confidence:
- Instagram is prioritising content that drives retention (often video).
- More suggested posts from accounts users do not follow are appearing in the Feed.
- Reels are heavily promoted as a discovery tool.
What remains uncertain:
- The exact weight assigned to static feed posts vs. Reels in the algorithm.
- Whether Instagram intentionally reduces visibility of personal non-creator posts.
- Whether feed impressions have dropped system-wide (Instagram does not publish this data).
However, industry benchmarks from analytics companies do show falling engagement rates for static posts, which indirectly supports the theory that algorithmic priorities may have shifted.
4. Have Average Likes Declined?
Although Instagram has not officially confirmed any decline in engagement on personal posts, several widely-cited analytics platforms report:
- Lower average engagement rates across industries.
- Reduced reach for photos compared to videos.
- Higher competition for Feed real estate due to suggested posts and Reels previews.
These reports vary in numbers and methodology, so they cannot be treated as absolute truth. However, they consistently show a pattern of year-over-year decline for static image posts.
This supports the hypothesis that personal posts may be reaching fewer people not necessarily because the algorithm suppresses them intentionally, but because the feed has become a more crowded and less frequently visited space.
5. Is the Feed Refreshing Too Often?
A widely shared user frustration is that the Instagram feed sometimes refreshes automatically when returning from other sections, such as Reels or DMs. Many people describe losing their place in the feed and missing posts they would otherwise have seen.
While this behaviour is reported frequently, Instagram has not made an official statement confirming why or how it happens.
Possible explanations include:
- App memory management
- Notification-driven reloading
- Session reset due to low device resources
- Interface prioritisation for “fresh content”
Regardless of the cause, the outcome is the same: personal feed posts may slip out of view before users get the chance to engage with them.
This aligns well with your observation that people are unintentionally skipping their friends’ posts.
6. Pulling It All Together: A Multi-Factor Hypothesis
Based on the available evidence and user-reported behaviour, the most reasonable hypothesis is:
Personal Instagram posts are getting fewer likes in 2025–2026 because users spend less time on the Home Feed, and more time in Reels Stories, and DMs acombined with increased competition from algorithmic suggested posts.
No single change alone can explain the pattern.
Instead, the decline appears to be the result of:
- A genuine behavioural shift toward private sharing
- Increased consumption of short-form video
- Fewer users scrolling the Feed deeply
- The Feed having more creator-oriented suggested content
- Possible feed-refresh behaviours causing missed posts
7. What This Means for Everyday Users
If you feel your posts are getting fewer likes than last year, it may not be personal and it may not be because your content quality changed. It may simply be that:
- fewer people are scrolling the Feed
- more content is competing for visibility
- the platform’s design encourages shortcuts into Reels and DMs
- private interaction is replacing public engagement
Understanding this shift can help users adjust expectations and rethink how they share on Instagram.
