This is not a novelty feature. It's a strategic choice. And at scale, it represents something far more dangerous than a questionable product decision. WHY AI COMPANIES ARE ENCOURAGING INTIMACY Romance is the most powerful engagement mechanism ever discovered. A user who treats AI as a tool can leave. A user who treats it as a companion cannot. Emotional attachment produces longer sessions, repeat engagement, dependency, and vast amounts of deeply personal data.
Meta has implemented a new machine learning framework for Instagram that applies diversity algorithms to reduce repetitive content while maintaining user engagement. The diversity-aware ranking system addresses overexposure to similar content creators and product types by introducing multiplicative penalties to existing engagement models. The framework tackles two primary problems: excessive messages from the same content creator and overemphasis on single-product surfaces like Stories while neglecting Feed or Reels content.