Instagram's original content rules now cover photos and carousels

Instagram's original content guidelines count a post as original when you wholly created it or it reflects your unique perspective, and they now apply to photos and carousels as well as reels. Accounts that mainly post unoriginal content in any of those formats aren't shown where Instagram recommends content, though what their followers see doesn't change.

Plenty of creators and small sellers reuse other people's material without realising it can cost them reach. Here's where we think the line is, and the checklist we'd run before posting.

What changed for photos and carousels?

The protections that already applied to reels now cover photos and carousels too. Content aggregators who mainly re-upload other people's work in photo and carousel posts are no longer eligible for recommendations across Instagram.

Reels have had these protections for a while. When Instagram is confident two pieces of content are identical and the original is fairly recent, it recommends the original rather than the copy, and aggregator accounts are kept out of recommendations.

Original posts already make up most of what gets recommended in the US, where 75% of recommendations come from original posts. We haven't seen an equivalent figure for India.

Originality is also separate from intellectual property. Posting content that violates someone else's intellectual property rights isn't allowed, and you're responsible for getting any permissions you need before using someone else's work.

What counts as original content on Instagram?

Original content is work you wholly created, or work that reflects your unique perspective. In practice, it's one of three things.

• Photos or videos you took, where your photography and edits reflect your creative vision.
• Content you designed, such as a photo series, a how-to guide or a visual story you personally created.
• Content you materially edited: third-party material such as meme templates or popular clips, where your additions meaningfully enhance what you're using.

For that third kind, material edits look like unique text on the content that adds more context than a description of what's happening, creative graphics that add new information, or using remix to transform the original.

The test we'd apply: does your edit add real value beyond restating or referencing the original? If you're adding new information, context or a point of view that isn't obvious from the original, you're likely on the right track.

Does adding credit or a watermark make a repost original?

No. Re-uploading someone else's photo, carousel or reel without meaningful creative input doesn't qualify, and just adding a border, watermark, subtitles or a credit in the captions isn't enough.

Simply stitching clips together doesn't count as material editing either. Neither does a screenshot of someone else's work with a credit and little else.

Our quick self-check: if someone could remove your contribution and the content would be virtually the same, it needs more of you in it.

What happens to accounts that mostly repost?

An account that primarily posts unoriginal reels, photos or carousels isn't shown where Instagram recommends content. Content judged unoriginal may also be kept out of recommendations to people who don't already follow you.

If you want to spotlight other people's work, use the tools that credit the original creator: share the post to your story, or repost it. For posts you made with others, collabs, remix and the paid partnership label for branded content keep everyone credited.

How do I get back into recommendations, and where is Account Status?

An account that has lost eligibility can become eligible again when most of its recently posted photos, carousels and reels are original over a 30-day period. It's worked out on a rolling basis, so there's no fixed date to wait for, and it isn't automatic.

To check, go to Account Status in your settings and see whether your account has any limits on its reach. If it's ineligible for recommendations under these rules, you can remove the content in question or appeal the decision.

Telling material edits from plain re-uploads isn't always easy, and mistakes can happen. That's what the appeal is for, and we'd use it whenever we were sure a post adds something.

What should I check before posting?

This is the checklist we'd run ourselves, written for creators and small sellers who sometimes work with other people's material.

1. Did we shoot it or design it? Product photos taken on your own table are the easy case. A supplier's catalogue photo is still someone else's work, even with permission, so we'd shoot our own.
2. If it's third-party, what are we adding? We'd write the new information, context or opinion in one line before posting. If we can't, we don't post it.
3. Run the remove-our-part test. Cover our text, graphics or voiceover. If what's left is the original, the post needs more of us in it.
4. Don't count the credit as the edit. Tags, borders and watermarks are fine to add, but they don't make a re-upload original.
5. Translation alone isn't enough. Adding only subtitles to someone else's clip, in Hindi or any other language, doesn't make it yours.
6. Build carousels from our own slides. A carousel of other accounts' screenshots with a caption on top isn't original.
7. Curating? Share to your story or repost instead of re-uploading.
8. Open Account Status once a month. With a rolling 30-day window, a month of mostly original posts is the way back we'd aim for.

Planning carousels from scratch? Our carousel formula covers the structure slide by slide. To try new original ideas on non-followers first, use trial reels.

None of this stops you sharing other people's work. It stops re-uploads from being recommended to people who don't follow you. Make something, add something real, or use the sharing tools built for curation.

When your own photos and carousels start drawing comments like "price?", Instoly can reply to each commenter with a DM, even a carousel of product cards if you sell.