Last Wednesday my Instagram post hit 12k views and I still can't figure out why

I post the same kind of stuff every day. Woodworking projects with a few tips. Usually get like 200 views. Then last Wednesday I posted a video of me sanding a table for 15 seconds with no caption and it blew up. No hashtags. No trending audio. Nothing special about the table. I tried to replicate it on Friday with a similar video and got 85 views. Has anyone else had a random spike like that where the algorithm just decides to show your post to people for no reason?

3 comments

3 Comments

aaron_mitchell21d ago

Agree with @martin.riley on this one - the algorithm's just a fickle beast like a random lottery.

the_rowan21d ago

ok so here's the thing nobody's talking about - maybe it wasn't the content at all but the time you posted it. like what if wednesday at that exact hour there was some sort of glitch or a major creator went silent and the algorithm just needed bodies to feed to people's feeds. i've had videos pop off on weird days like a tuesday at 2am and i swear it's just luck of the draw sometimes.

martin.riley21d ago

OH MAN I gotta push back on this HARD. @the_rowan I respect the theory but timing is WAY overrated. People act like the algorithm is this mysterious black box but honestly the content is what gets the view and the thumbnail is what gets the click. Ive seen people post the exact same video at three different times and it flops every time because the hook sucks. Plus if a major creator went silent the algorithm would just push other big creators not random small ones. Luck plays a role sure but blaming the clock is a cop out when your video just didnt connect with anyone.