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I thought the 'first comment boost' was just a myth on Instagram...
But after tracking my own posts for a month, the ones where I replied to the first comment within 5 minutes consistently got 30% more reach from non-followers. Has anyone else tested this with different time windows?
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gracethomas1mo ago
Did you see that article about how the algorithm treats early engagement as a signal? It basically said that quick replies tell Instagram the post is starting a real conversation, so they push it out more. That lines up with what you found with the five minute window. It makes sense they would want to boost posts that get people talking right away. I guess the trick is just being glued to your phone after you hit post.
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gracethomas1mo ago
Honestly that could just be random luck or other stuff going on. Maybe your posts at certain times just do better anyway. The whole algorithm thing is such a black box, and people find patterns in anything if they look hard enough. It feels like confirmation bias to me, where you notice the times it works and ignore the times it doesn't. Plus, being that fast to reply seems like a tiny thing for a huge app to care about. Could be a total coincidence.
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the_mia9d ago
Right? It's like the same thing that happens in real life when someone actually follows up on a conversation starter versus just letting it die. I noticed this with my own posts too, like if I respond fast to a comment people keep the thread going and it feels more active to the algorithm. But @gracethomas you're right that it could be coincidence, but I've also seen it work on my smaller accounts where there's less random noise to mess with the data. Like on days I reply within a minute vs ten minutes, the ones I reply to faster just get more random likes from people I don't know. It's wild how something that simple makes such a difference.
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