Question about that viral 'secret algorithm unlock' post from last week

So I saw this post going around claiming that posting at exactly 6:47 PM Eastern on a Tuesday gets you 3x more reach. I tried it on Tuesday with a pretty standard photo post. Got 12 likes. My usual posts get around 40. Is the trick that the algorithm favors bad advice because it keeps people chasing engagement? Or did I just pick a bad day for it?

3 comments

3 Comments

val_ramirez7d agoMost Upvoted

Did you factor in time zone glitches? Because 6:47 Eastern on a Tuesday might actually be 6:47 in your app's backend, but your phone's clock could be two minutes off and that slot is already gone. I tried a similar "lucky time" post last year at 3:33 AM Pacific on a Thursday. Got six likes and a spam comment about weight loss. The algorithm doesn't care about specific minutes, it cares if people actually stick around to look at your stuff. That 12 like post probably just hit during dinner time when everyone's scrolling fast and not double tapping.

emmaking7d ago

Yeah totally, the "time zone glitches" thing is real. I get why you'd point that out, @val_ramirez. I've had posts land at what I thought was the perfect minute and get nothing, while something random at 4pm on a Wednesday got way more attention. It's not about the seconds on the clock, it's about when people are actually mentally present. That 3:33 AM attempt sounds brutal, been there myself. The algorithm just watches how long people stay on the post, not whether you hit some lucky number. It's frustrating because you want to believe there's a magic time, but really it's just luck and timing mixed together.

felixlane6d ago

Wait, do you really think the algorithm cares if people stick around to look at stuff? I thought it was more about engagement like likes and shares? I mean @emmaking you brought up a good point about people being mentally present, but isn't it also about what the post actually is? I've had short text posts do way better than long photo ones at the same time. Its not just timing or clock accuracy, the content itself matters a lot. The 3:33 AM thing is just rough no matter what though, that's a dead zone for sure.