What are Instagram shares?

Meta’s account-level definition is the number of shares of your posts, stories, reels, videos and live videos. For a single piece of media it is listed as shares too, for feed posts, Reels and Stories. The page does not spell out every route a share can take, so do not assume that it counts one particular button. Check your own app’s insights for the wording it uses.

It also lists shares inside total interactions, together with likes, saves and comments. A separate metric called reposts counts reposts of your content. If your figures for shares and reposts differ, that is expected, because they are different actions.

Divide the shares on a post by the post’s reach, then multiply by 100. If a Reel reached 8,000 people and was shared 200 times, the share rate is 2.5%. A post that reached 800 people and was shared 20 times has the same rate, though far less reach. Using the rate keeps small and large posts on one scale.

Shares tell you something likes do not. A like says “I enjoyed this”. A share says “I thought someone else should see this”, which is why humour, useful tips and relatable posts often do well on it. Whether Instagram gives shares extra weight in ranking is not stated on the Meta pages we read, so treat that as unconfirmed.

• Make something a person would send to a specific friend: a meme about their job, a pricing tip for a freelancer, a travel route.
• Name the audience in the post. “Send this to your flatmate” works better than a bare “share”.
• Do not trade shares for entries without checking the rules for promotions in your app, and read the engagement bait page before begging for them.
• Watch what people share, then make more in that vein.

Tip: Skim the shares from last month for the one that surprised you. People often share the practical or funny post, not the one you put the most work into.