Hey!

Welcome to Social Files — your no-BS roadmap to a successful social media presence.

My sincere apologies for using the “___ is dead” subject line.

In my defense, I have seen quite a few social media managers call out (publicly and privately) and Reels performance has been fluctuating lately (and there are other formats working better 😱).

So today I wanted to put together a sort of ‘Instagram State of the Union’ so you have a clear idea of what’s working … or what we think is working … on IG right now.

Let’s get into it.

NEWS BITS

How are social media managers actually growing accounts on Instagram?

Instagram has felt like a black box for a while now.

Always making tweaks to the algorithm. Always adding features that nobody asked for. Always keeping a cloud of mystery over what’s actually working to grow accounts.

But one thing has been clear for a while now: Instagram is trying to keep up with TikTok and YouTube Shorts by improving its Reels feed. And honestly? I think they’ve done a decent job.