Post Share Rates Are The New Metric To Watch

Bit challenging when that metric is blocked in the EU… but let’s talk about it.

In response to a question posed in his most recent Q and A session on Instagram about how to expand your reach in the app, and the top considerations factored into the algorithm at present, IG chief Adam Mosseri provided this answer:

“More important than watch time or like and comment counts is send rates, [and] generally, I think the rate is more important than the count. So the number of sends per reach, the number of likes per reach, the number of comments per reach. But sends per reach correlate more, in my experience, with overall reach than anything else, because we are looking to help people discover content they want to connect with friends over, and so sends is a great proxy for that sort of connection over creativity.”

So the likelihood that people will explicitly share your post is seemingly the key focus of the IG algorithim at present, not watch time, nor other forms of engagement.

Though I’m not happy with the answer. “In my experience?” dude, you’re the one in charge of the platform, you would know what drives greater performance.

Once upon a time, social media platforms prioritised likes and comments over everything else, but as the focus has switched to video content - ensuring entertainment value and longer watch times has become a bigger consideration. Because while you might not comment on every single clip from every old TV show that comes up in your Instagram feed, you’re probably going to watch it.

That shift is the most significant in the social media space right now, moving away from interaction in-stream, which is in decline across the board, to how long they can keep you watching video clips.

That’s what’s driving all the growth on Facebook and IG, though Mosseri’s saying that what they actually prioritise is share rate, as opposed to watch time.

So it’s not just how long you watch, but how likely you are to share a clip that will amplify it further.

Which makes sense, but I still think share rates, in general, would low versus overall watch time for Instagram. Looking at my own habits and that of my friendship group, we’re a lot more inclined to Share content on TikTok but tag on Meta.

But even so, if you are likely to hit share, it makes sense that this would also be a strong ranking signal.

I actually suspect the algorithm drivers are now ranked in this order:

• Share rates

• Watch time

• Comment rates

• Like rates

The last two could vary, but the fact is that fewer people are posting and commenting, and as such, Meta needs to focus on other elements to maximize engagement.  

So, how can you drive more shares of your content?

Focus on entertainment, and what prompts people to want to show others that clip or post.