Why does every algorithm push the same 3 creators in my niche?

I run a small gardening page on Instagram and for the last 2 months, the explore feed keeps showing me the same 3 accounts over and over. They have 500k plus followers and post basic stuff like "5 tips for tomatoes" that gets 100k likes. Meanwhile, smaller creators with actual niche content like how to grow heirloom peppers in zone 5b get almost no reach. Is the algorithm just hardwired to surface accounts that already have high engagement metrics? Anyone else notice this pattern in their specific niche?

3 comments

3 Comments

wader713d agoTop Commenter

Yeah agreed with @troychen on that, it's a numbers game for sure. What finally helped my page was doubling down on reels showing the messy real process instead of polished tips, that got the algorithm to actually push my stuff to the right people.

troychen3d ago

Zone 5b heirloom pepper grower here and honestly it doesn't keep me up at night. The algorithm rewards stuff that appeals to the widest audience and basic tomato tips are always gonna beat niche zone specific stuff.

angela_hart1d ago

Had the same issue until I focused on one tiny topic like @wader71 said and the algorithm finally found my audience.