Metricool has released its Instagram Study 2026, aimed at identifying what is currently working on the social network. To do so, the study’s authors analyzed more than 24 million posts from 375,000 accounts of all sizes around the world to draw conclusions and explain, with data, what Instagram’s key trends are in 2026.
We recommend reading it, but since we know you like summaries, here are some of its main takeaways 😉
Before continuing, it is worth clarifying an important methodological detail. Since 2025, Instagram has replaced impressions with views as its primary metric. This means that the same post can accumulate multiple views if a user watches it again, reopens a carousel, or plays a Reel more than once. Therefore, an increase in views does not necessarily mean that more people are seeing the content, but also that it is generating more consumption and repeat viewing.
Now, let us continue 😉
Brands are betting heavily on Instagram, increasing the volume of their posts. As a result, most indicators show notable growth since last year:
And well, it seems that this increase in content production has been accompanied by higher consumption. Overall, views have grown by 27%, and interactions have also increased: by 19%, to be exact.
All good, then, right?
No.
Even though everything above is trending upward, engagement (the percentage interaction rate) is down 7% (falling from 3.79% in 2025 to 3.54% in 2026).
Publishing more content works when it comes to gaining total views and interactions, but with so much content available, the engagement rate per post takes a hit. In addition, the overall drop in engagement is mainly explained by the decline in single-image posts, since Reels (as we will see) are moving in the opposite direction.
That 24% growth in the number of posts is not distributed evenly across all publishing formats. Specifically, there are 12% more single-image posts, 24% more carousels, and 35% more Reels.
However, the performance of that effort varies dramatically depending on the format chosen.
While Reels and carousels are excellent for gaining visibility, they achieve it through different paths. Reels stand out for their ability to reach new audiences, increasing their reach by 11.69%. Carousels, on the other hand, excel in views: Instagram shows them again to users who did not interact with them at first, boosting this metric by 53.57%
When it comes to interactions, Reels lead the way, generating on average four times more interactions than a single-image post and becoming the only major format whose engagement increases compared with 2025. Their engagement rate rises by 24.76%, reaching 4.30%. By contrast, single-image posts record declines of 21.96% in reach, 25.41% in interactions, and 45.98% in engagement.
The study also highlights the growth of Reels in key metrics such as shares (+67%), interactions (+32%), likes (+18%), and reach (+12%). In addition, average watch time has soared by 118%, even though views have barely grown by 2%. Metricool explains this by noting that “the algorithm is showing the content to the people who are genuinely interested in it.”
According to Metricool, two out of every three Reel views and 61% of total interactions happen within the first three days after publication. In the case of single-image posts and carousels, that window is even tighter: within those three days, they achieve 76% of their views and 75% of their total interactions.
As I mentioned, the study leaves room for plenty of interesting Instagram data, but what happens with hashtags strikes me as particularly curious. In just a few years, we have gone from a social network that relied excessively on this type of tag to one that has, practically speaking, moved beyond them. According to Metricool, posts that use them record 32% fewer views and 34% fewer interactions than the overall average.
The study links this decline to SEO’s full arrival on the platform: Instagram now directly indexes captions for keyword searches and even public posts appear on Google and Bing. Therefore, the use of natural language and strategic business keywords matters more than ever, relegating hashtags to a secondary role in which it is advisable to include only 1 or 2 that are highly relevant and specific to the industry, while completely avoiding generic tags.
Image: ChatGPT
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