Lately, there have been a lot of Instagram algorithm myths that have worried businesses. Here are the myths and the truths behind the “algorithm” that determines your brand’s success on Instagram.
Five social media myths about Instagram algorithms
One: You must post every day
This is one of the biggest social media myths. While many articles will recommend that you post daily or even twice daily, that may not always be the case. Posting more often can help with you need to grow your following, but recently, our crew at Legendary has noticed that posting too often may cannibalize the engagement you would have received on past posts. So if you’re looking for higher engagement, though, posting daily may actually be a negative, swamping your followers and discouraging them from liking and commenting on your posts.
The social media scheduling app Later has a great article that breaks it all down.
So what do you do? Test what works for your account. If your followers engage with daily posts, great! If not, try posting every 2-3 days so you get better engagement on each post.
Two: If a user swipes past one of your Instagram Stories, they won’t see your future posts
This myth circulated on Instagram, warning users not to swipe past Stories unless they never wanted to see posts from the creator again.
Of course, that isn’t true! But it did worry brands into thinking that if they didn’t have amazing, engaging Stories every single day, followers would flip past them and then never see content again.
Real deal? Stories gauge interest based on likes, comments, etc. But if someone swipes past a video, your content isn’t going to be hidden forever. So don’t stress about every one of your Stories being “perfect”. It’s more important to just be authentic and share so the right audience can find you.
Three: Comments only count if they’re over three words
There is a popular rumour that Instagram’s algorithms only count comments over 3 words. Again, not true: Instagram’s algorithm doesn’t look at length, it just looks at genuine engagement. If you’re finding that you’re not getting the attention and engagement you want, here are a few things to try:
- Ask questions
- Run a contest or giveaway
- Sharing personal stories that followers can connect with
So you can stop worrying about word counts and start focusing on the social part of your social media.
Four: Swapping to a business profile will damage your standing in the algorithm
At one point, there was the belief that individual profiles got more attention than business profiles. That made companies reluctant to have a business profile. Again, no need to worry! Instagram doesn’t prioritize individuals or businesses. They are given equal weight in the algorithm.
Just choose the appropriate profile and get posting!
Five: Instagram’s algorithm hides posts
Another huge myth is that Instagram hides posts. For a while, a ton of businesses were sharing posts asking followers to like or comment on posts so future content wouldn’t be hidden.
Instagram’s algorithm decides what content is shown first and what content is pushed down further – it doesn’t hide content per se.
So just post what works for you and focus on engaging naturally with your followers!
