When should you post on Instagram on a Friday?

Two of the four studies say outright that Friday is a weak day. Sprout Social found no significant Friday peak at all, and Buffer pairs Friday with Saturday as the two weakest days of the week. Hootsuite still names a Friday time but leaves Friday out of its best days. Later’s 2024 data is the kindest to Friday: its worst day is Saturday.

Sprout Social’s reading is that people “check out for the weekend early.” Buffer draws the practical conclusion: a Friday post keeps you visible, but it is unlikely to be your best performer of the week.

The Friday picks barely overlap, so choose between them on purpose instead of averaging them into one hour.

• Around 4 p.m.: Hootsuite’s only Friday time, and the one afternoon option in the four studies. It falls in working hours, so you can be around to answer the first comments.
• 9 p.m. or 10 p.m.: Buffer’s two best Friday hours. They are later than Buffer’s top slots on most other days, such as 9 a.m. on Thursday and 12 p.m. on Wednesday.
• 6 a.m.: Buffer’s third Friday hour and the end of Later’s 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. window. The rest of Later’s window falls inside the 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. stretch Buffer rates the worst of any day, so try it only if your chart shows followers awake that early.

Tip: Judge a Friday post against other Friday posts. Put it next to a Wednesday post and you are mostly measuring the day, not the hour.

Sprout Social’s explanation assumes a Friday that comes before the weekend. That holds in most countries but not all. In Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait the weekend is Friday and Saturday, so a Friday afternoon there is a day-off afternoon. The UAE moved the other way in 2022: its weekend is now Saturday and Sunday, with Friday a shorter working day for government staff.

Sprout Social, Buffer and Later publish one set of times for everyone rather than results by country. Hootsuite’s report does include a heatmap for Arabia Standard Time, the time zone of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, which is worth a look if many of your followers live there. Either way, your own chart has the final word.

A Friday night post reaches followers east of you on Saturday. Buffer’s 10 p.m. slot, set by a Los Angeles clock, goes out at 6 a.m. on Saturday in London for most of the year. That is an hour Hootsuite advises against on Saturdays, when it suggests nothing before 8 a.m.

So schedule by your followers’ clock, not yours. If they are spread across continents, check Top locations in your Insights and plan the Friday post for the biggest group.

1. From your profile, open Insights, or the Professional dashboard if that is what your app shows.
2. Tap your follower figure. Depending on the app version it is labelled New followers or Total followers.
3. Scroll to the chart of when your followers are on Instagram, called Most active times or Follower active times, and switch it to days to see how Friday compares with Wednesday and Thursday.
4. Switch to hours and note Friday’s two or three busiest. Test them against 4 p.m. and 10 p.m.

The chart appears once you have at least 100 followers. It counts people who are online, not people who engage, so a busy Friday hour stays a candidate until a few posts back it up.