Instagram boss Adam Mosseri reveals popular user 'hack' for boosting likes and views DOESN'T actually work

The head of Instagram has lifted the lid on its notoriously secretive algorithm, revealing that one of the most popular user tricks for boosting likes and views doesn't actually work. 

Adam Mosseri, 42, who has led the Meta-owned social media app since 2018, shared some secrets to optimizing users' presence on the platform, in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com this week. 

Speaking from New York City, Mosseri admitted that there is no magic spell or 'algorithm hack' when it comes to increasing engagement - at least not in the way most people expect. 

'No silver bullets. No silver bullets. You've got to experiment and make sure you're true to yourself, and also figure out what resonates,' he told DailyMail.com. 

'What works for this week might not work next year.' 

Though the tech executive was hesitant to disclose specific strategies, he did candidly address the effectiveness of Instagram hashtags - which many users have historically relied on to boost likes and reach. 

When asked if they still work, Mosseri replied emphatically: 'They don't! I'll tell you that. They don't work.' 

Mosseri maintained that there's no secret formula for attracting more followers and likes, and advised users to 'find the overlap between what you want to get out of the platform and what's gonna resonate on the platform.' 

The Instagram chief also addressed the common belief that posting more content helps increase visibility and reach. 

He confirmed that frequent posting can be effective, but said he did not want users to feel the 'pressure' to do so. 

In a lighter moment during the interview, Mosseri shared his favorite person to follow on Instagram.

'The Real Professor X for men's fashion,' he said, referring to popular content creator Xander Torres. 

Mosseri - who has long been known as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's 'trusted lieutenant' - joined the tech firm in 2008 and led the team that developed Facebook's News Feed. 

He became Instagram's boss in 2018 after the app's co-founders left the company. 

Mosseri has overseen the release of various Instagram features in recent years such as Reels - to rival TikTok - and Threads, an alternative to Elon Musk's X, formerly Twitter. 

In 2022, he was reported to have moved from San Francisco to London with his wife and three children, with the intention of building out Meta's operations in Europe and starving off mounting competition.

A year later Mosseri announced his return to the US, explaining that managing 'Twitter killer' Threads was 'unmanageable' in a different time zone.

More recently, Instagram introduced a comments section to its Stories feature in September, allowing comments and replies to be visible to viewers instead of in the form of a private message. 

Instagram said it implemented the new tool to potentially increase user engagement and create more community-focused experiences.

It comes after a continued increase in Instagram users who opt to communicate through private DMs or closed groups away from advertisers.

'If you look at how teens spend their time on Instagram, they spend more time in DMs than they do in Stories, and they spend more time in Stories than they do in Feed,' head of Instagram Adam Mosseri said in a podcast at the time.