Like any social media platform, Instagram can be a tricky beast to tame — especially since there’s so many different types of posts. We always have people ask: what should I post on Stories? Do I need to post Reels? Why aren’t my Photo posts working? Last year, Instagram posted a blog about how content is ranked on its platform, and recently, its head, Adam Mosseri, gave us some more insights.

The most obvious takeaway from the article was that “each part of the Instagram app uses its own algorithm.” Feed, Stories, Explore, Reels, and Search serve content differently — consequently, you should approach each with a unique approach. Instagram gives examples like, “People tend to look for their closest friends in Stories, use Explore to discover new content and creators and be entertained in Reels.”

In Feed, the five types of interactions that determine if a user is likely to see a post are the number of seconds users spend on a post, comments, likes, shares, and profile photo taps. Mosseri explains that using carousels can improve your reach, because each slide gives the post another opportunity to show up in the Feed. Similarly, putting music on photos is a great idea, as users are more likely to spend time on it.

In terms of Stories, the head of Instagram recommends giving “authentic insights” with behind-the-scenes content. Mosseri goes as far as to basically say, if you can’t do that, it’s fine, don’t bother with Stories. And he says that about every type of content. Essentially, your content should always be an overlap between your goals and what your followers want to see.