Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2023

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Update for 2023

In 2018, Scott M. Graffius first published data on the lifespan (half-life) of social media posts. As algorithms and other factors on platforms change over time
¹, Graffius periodically updates the analysis. This is the update for 2023.

Digital marketing involves utilizing tools, processes, content, and techniques to advance goals such as traffic, visibility, and sales for individuals, brands, and businesses. An increasingly important form of digital marketing is social media marketing. It involves creating and sharing content on social media networks. When well-executed, it delivers multiple benefits, including:

  • Improved brand and marketplace awareness,
  • Engagement with a global audience — there are 4,700,000,000 (4.7 billion) active social media users worldwide²,
  • Increased traffic,
  • Enhanced search engine optimization (SEO) rankings,
  • And more.

When content is published online, relevance and engagement have a limited lifespan. An advantageous objective metric is half-life. It’s the amount of time it takes for a post to receive half of its total engagement (such as likes, shares, and comments). The data can help inform strategic and tactical decisions, such as the frequency/scheduling of posts.

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Based on an analysis of data from 32 diverse sources listed below³, this article reveals the average lifespan (half-life) for posts on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Snapchat, and blogs. In cases where data sources reported different values for a platform, the average was applied.

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As detailed next, the half-life of posts varies by platform.

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Snapchat is a multimedia instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc. A distinguishing feature of the platform is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before they become inaccessible to their recipients. Snapchat has 557,000,000 (557 million) active users.

The average half-life duration for Snapchat posts is 0 minutes.³ Exceptions apply: Snapchat messages may disappear instantly or live up to 24 hours. That's unchanged from what was shown in the prior analysis which was conducted and published at ScottGraffius.com in July 2022.

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Twitter is a microblogging and social networking service owned by X Holdings II, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of X Holdings I, Inc., wholly owned by Elon Musk), on which users post and interact with messages known as "tweets". Twitter has 436,000,000 (436 million) active users.

The average half-life duration for tweets is 24 minutes.³ That's 1 minute longer than the 23 minutes shown in the prior analysis which was conducted and published at ScottGraffius.com in July 2022.

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Facebook
is an online social media and social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It's the third most visited website. Facebook has 2,910,000,000 (2.91 billion) active users.

The average half-life duration for Facebook posts is 105 minutes (= 1.75 hours).³ That's 45 minutes longer than the 60 minutes shown in the prior analysis which was conducted and published at ScottGraffius.com in July 2022.

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Instagram
is a photo and video sharing service owned by Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Users can browse other users' content by tag and location, view trending content, like photos, and follow other users to add their content to a personal feed. Instagram has 1,478,000,000 (1.478 billion) active users.

The average half-life duration for Instagram posts is 1,200 minutes (= 20 hours)
.³ That's 30 minutes longer than the 1,170 minutes shown in the prior analysis which was conducted and published at ScottGraffius.com in July 2022.

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Social Media Half-Life HalfLife Lifespan - v 2023 - Blog Section Headers - LinkedIn - BLG-SQ

LinkedIn is a business and employment-oriented online service. It's a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. LinkedIn claims to have 830,000,000+ (830 million) users. However, it does not report how many of those users are active users. Active users may be significantly less than the total number of users.

The average half-life duration for LinkedIn posts is 1,440 minutes (= 24 hours).³ That's unchanged from what was shown in the prior analysis which was conducted and published at ScottGraffius.com in July 2022.

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Social Media Half-Life HalfLife Lifespan - v 2023 - Blog Section Headers - YouTube - BLG-SQ

YouTube is an online video sharing and social media platform. It's owned by Google, and it's the second most visited website, after Google Search. YouTube has 2,562,000,000 (2.562 billion) active users.

The average half-life duration for YouTube posts is 12,672 minutes (= 8.8 days)
.³ That's 4,032 minutes longer than the 8,640 minutes shown in the prior analysis which was conducted and published at ScottGraffius.com in July 2022.

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Social Media Half-Life HalfLife Lifespan - v 2023 - Blog Section Headers - Pinterest - LR-SQ

Pinterest
is an image sharing and social media service designed to enable saving and discovery of information (specifically "ideas") on the internet using images — and on a smaller scale, animated GIFs and videos — in the form of pinboards. The service is operated by Pinterest, Inc. It has 444,000,000 (444 million) active users.

The average half-life duration for Pinterest posts is 164,270 minutes (= 3.75 months).³ That's unchanged from what was shown in the prior analysis which was conducted and published at ScottGraffius.com in July 2022.

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Social Media Half-Life HalfLife Lifespan - v 2023 - Blog Section Headers - Blogs - BLG-SQ

Blogs (a truncation of "weblogs") are discussion or informational websites consisting of discrete, often diary-style entries. Up until 2009, blogs were usually the work of an individual and each typically covered a single subject or topic. In the 2010s, multi-author blogs (MABs) from media outlets and others emerged. In addition to featuring the writings of multiple authors, MABs often span a range of topics. It is estimated that there are over 572,000,000 (572 million) blogs.

The average half-life duration for blog posts is 1,051,200 minutes (= 2 years).³ That's unchanged from what was shown in the prior analysis which was conducted and published at ScottGraffius.com in July 2022.

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As shown, half-life values vary by platform. The data can help inform strategic and tactical decisions, such as the frequency/scheduling of posts.

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References / Sources:

  1. Forbes's report, "A Guide to Social Media Algorithms and SEO."
  2. Statista's report, "Social Media - Statistics and Facts."
  3. We analyzed data from 32 diverse sources, including: Adobe, Bit.ly, Business Insider, Business Standard, Emeritus, Espirian, Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, Fanbooster (Traject), Fast Company, Forbes, Google, IEEE, Ignite Social Media, Klout, Later, Moz, New York Times, Pinterest, Royal Town Planning Institute, Science.org, Sculpt - B2B Social Media Agency, Simply Measured, Snapchat, Social Media Marketing, Social Media University—Global, TechniqueHow, The Online Advertising Guide, Université de Genève (University of Geneva), University of Akron, Washington Post, WebFX, and Wiselytics.
  4. Statista’s report, "Most Popular Social Networks Worldwide."
  5. LinkedIn.
  6. First Site Guide’s report, "Blogging Statistics 2022."

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How to cite this article:

Graffius, Scott M. (2023, January 1). The Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2023. Available at https://www.ScottGraffius.com.

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To request permission to use the 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' visual shown at the top of this article (or any other content in this article),
contact Scott M. Graffius. If approved, high resolution JPG and PNG versions of the image, if applicable, will be provided along with terms and conditions.

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About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius, PMP, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi award-winning author, and highly sought-after international keynote speaker. He has generated over $1.75 billion of business value in aggregate for the organizations he has served. Graffius is the CEO and Principal Consultant at Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™. Content from his books, talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Select examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, U.S. Soccer Federation, Qantas, National Academy of Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. National Park Service, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Warsaw University of Technology, and others. Graffius has delighted audiences with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops on agile, project management, and technology leadership at 82 conferences and other events across 24 countries.

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About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

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Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.

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About
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Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.

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Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.

The award-winning book by
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