Nearly a year after rolling out Sensitive Content Control options to the Explore tab, Instagram is tweaking the feature to cover all recommendations.
In addition to Explore, users can now control the amount of sensitive content and accounts seen in Search, Reels, Accounts You Might Follow, hashtag pages, and in-feed recommendations. The update will be available to everyone "in the coming weeks."
Instagram in July introduced its Sensitive Content Control bar, featuring three tiers (Allow, Limit, Limit Even More)—since renamed to offer a clearer explanation of how they differ: More, Standard, Less.
To make adjustments, visit your profile and then select Settings > Account > Sensitive Content Control. Choose to stick with the default Standard to avoid "some sensitive content and accounts," throw caution to the wind and allow More (not available to users under 18), or play it safe and select Less. You can change your selection at any time. The feature filters content only from accounts you don't follow (i.e. search results or Reels recommendations); you'll continue seeing risqué photos and videos from friends and family.
"Our goal is to make recommendations that are relevant and valuable to each person who sees them," according to the Instagram Help Center. "We do this by personalizing recommendations." Which is why, if you watch a restaurant's reel or comment on a bookshop's post, you're likely to get inundated with suggestions for foodies or bookstagrammers.
The social network offers a number of ways to take charge of your online experience, including providing tools that let users limit who can comment, filter abusive DM requests, and mute spammy friends without unfollowing them.