Short-form metrics, in plain English

The share of viewers who like, comment, share or save a video — the clearest signal of how much people actually care.

A save is when someone taps the bookmark icon under your Reel or post to keep it — one of the strongest signals on Instagram that your content is worth coming back to.

On TikTok a save is the “Add to Favorites” bookmark — when a viewer files your video to watch again. A quieter signal than a like, but a strong sign your content was worth keeping.

A save on YouTube is adding a video or Short to a playlist or Watch Later — a signal viewers want to come back, and a small but real input into how YouTube ranks content.

A share is when someone sends your Reel to a friend in a DM or adds it to their story — one of the biggest drivers of reach on Instagram.

A share is when a viewer sends your video on — via DM, to another app, or by reposting it. Shares are one of the top drivers of how far a TikTok spreads.

A share on YouTube is when a viewer taps Share to send your Short via link or social — a word-of-mouth signal that helps a Short reach new audiences.

Reach is how many unique people saw your video; impressions are how many total times it was shown. Impressions are always equal to or higher than reach.

The total time people spend watching a video — and one of the metrics the algorithm weighs most heavily.

The percentage of a video people actually watch — the strongest predictor of whether a Short gets pushed to new viewers.

Each platform counts a view differently — from an instant play to 30 seconds — so the same content shows very different numbers.

A YouTube Shorts metric counted when someone watches at least ~30 seconds or to the end — a stronger quality signal than a raw view.

The first 1–2 seconds of a video — the line or visual that stops the scroll. The single biggest factor in whether a video performs.

A video that performs far above an account’s usual numbers — the breakout posts worth studying and copying.

The algorithmic feed that shows users videos from creators they don’t follow — how short-form videos reach new audiences.

When a video massively outperforms an account’s norm by spreading through the algorithmic feed — usually driven by a strong hook and high retention.