Early social media was simple—you posted, followers saw it, liked it, maybe commented, then scrolled on. Now, your followers might not even see your content. Platforms prioritise engagement, not just reach, meaning creators and brands must adapt to stay visible.
This edition of Muse explores how social media algorithms have evolved and why engagement outweighs follower count.
Engagement Over Followers
At Omnicom Media Group and Meta’s From Content to Commerce summit, experts confirmed that follower count no longer guarantees visibility. Even accounts with millions of followers struggle if their audience isn’t interacting. Algorithms now use behavioural data to determine relevant content. If few people engage with a post, its reach shrinks—even to followers.
Evolution Of Social Media Discovery Methods
As social media platforms prioritise engagement over passive reach, traditional discovery methods like hashtags are becoming less effective.
Engagement, not static markers like hashtags, now determines visibility. At the end of 2024, Meta saw the acceleration of this shift when Instagram announced its decision to remove the ability to follow hashtags.
Their algorithms now mostly rely on behavioural data, which means paying attention to who interacts with what rather than simple keyword indexing.
While Meta platforms have moved away from hashtag-driven discovery, the TikTok algorithm still places importance on captions, hashtags, and sounds to help categorise content for the algorithm.
What The Shift in Algorithms Means for You
To maximise reach, creators on TikTok should use relevant hashtags, engage with trends, hook viewers early, keep videos concise, post at peak times, write keyword-rich captions, and analyse performance metrics to refine their strategy.
The new algorithm shifts content distribution for Meta users based on relevance, not just who follows you. The more people interact with your content, the more the algorithm pushes it to a broader audience, whether they follow you or not. Platforms prioritise engagement signals such as likes, comments, shares, and saves to determine what content deserves more reach.
Want to stay ahead? Start optimising your content today and focus on engagement over follower numbers. Read our next Muse article to see how you can thrive in the new algorithm era.