{
    "title": "What actually gets your videos shared?",
    "subtitle": "A study of 542,941 TikToks from 1,701 creators: how often videos get shared, whether shares go with reach, and every share result from our studies ranked",
    "url": "https://www.yapanddone.com/studies/what-gets-shared/",
    "published": "2026-11-09",
    "snapshot": {
        "window": "Videos posted January 2025 to October 2026",
        "collected": "2026-11-09"
    },
    "license": {
        "name": "CC BY 4.0",
        "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
    },
    "citation": "Yap & Done (2026). What actually gets your videos shared? https://www.yapanddone.com/studies/what-gets-shared/",
    "related": [
        {
            "title": "What makes a hook actually work?",
            "url": "https://www.yapanddone.com/studies/hooks/"
        },
        {
            "title": "How long should your videos actually be?",
            "url": "https://www.yapanddone.com/studies/video-length/"
        }
    ],
    "sample": {
        "videos": 542941,
        "creators": 1701,
        "niches": 10
    },
    "rates": {
        "creators": 1582,
        "median": 0.15633941011096184,
        "p75": 0.3001875350089347,
        "p90": 0.5136406673306445,
        "zero_share_videos_pct": 22.6
    },
    "reach": {
        "shares": {
            "quarters": [
                {
                    "quarter": 1,
                    "pct": 3,
                    "lo": 0.1,
                    "hi": 5.8,
                    "creators": 1443
                },
                {
                    "quarter": 2,
                    "pct": -12.6,
                    "lo": -13.7,
                    "hi": -11.5,
                    "creators": 1443
                },
                {
                    "quarter": 3,
                    "pct": -6.7,
                    "lo": -7.9,
                    "hi": -5.5,
                    "creators": 1443
                },
                {
                    "quarter": 4,
                    "pct": 19.2,
                    "lo": 15.9,
                    "hi": 22.5,
                    "creators": 1443
                }
            ],
            "top_vs_bottom": {
                "pct": 15.7,
                "lo": 9.7,
                "hi": 22.1,
                "creators": 1443
            }
        },
        "saves": {
            "quarters": [
                {
                    "quarter": 1,
                    "pct": -11.9,
                    "lo": -14,
                    "hi": -9.8,
                    "creators": 1497
                },
                {
                    "quarter": 2,
                    "pct": -12.9,
                    "lo": -13.9,
                    "hi": -11.9,
                    "creators": 1497
                },
                {
                    "quarter": 3,
                    "pct": -2.6,
                    "lo": -3.7,
                    "hi": -1.5,
                    "creators": 1497
                },
                {
                    "quarter": 4,
                    "pct": 33.8,
                    "lo": 30.5,
                    "hi": 37.3,
                    "creators": 1497
                }
            ],
            "top_vs_bottom": {
                "pct": 52,
                "lo": 45,
                "hi": 59.3,
                "creators": 1497
            }
        },
        "likes": {
            "quarters": [
                {
                    "quarter": 1,
                    "pct": -1.9,
                    "lo": -4.2,
                    "hi": 0.4,
                    "creators": 1550
                },
                {
                    "quarter": 2,
                    "pct": -10,
                    "lo": -11.1,
                    "hi": -9,
                    "creators": 1550
                },
                {
                    "quarter": 3,
                    "pct": -4.8,
                    "lo": -5.9,
                    "hi": -3.8,
                    "creators": 1550
                },
                {
                    "quarter": 4,
                    "pct": 19.1,
                    "lo": 16,
                    "hi": 22.3,
                    "creators": 1550
                }
            ],
            "top_vs_bottom": {
                "pct": 21.5,
                "lo": 15.9,
                "hi": 27.4,
                "creators": 1550
            }
        },
        "comments": {
            "quarters": [
                {
                    "quarter": 1,
                    "pct": 93.2,
                    "lo": 88.4,
                    "hi": 98.1,
                    "creators": 1438
                },
                {
                    "quarter": 2,
                    "pct": 8.3,
                    "lo": 7,
                    "hi": 9.6,
                    "creators": 1438
                },
                {
                    "quarter": 3,
                    "pct": -19.7,
                    "lo": -20.7,
                    "hi": -18.8,
                    "creators": 1438
                },
                {
                    "quarter": 4,
                    "pct": -40.4,
                    "lo": -41.7,
                    "hi": -39.2,
                    "creators": 1438
                }
            ],
            "top_vs_bottom": {
                "pct": -69.2,
                "lo": -70.5,
                "hi": -67.8,
                "creators": 1438
            }
        }
    },
    "hashtags": [
        {
            "label": "No hashtags",
            "pct": -4.9,
            "lo": -6.5,
            "hi": -3.3,
            "creators": 953
        },
        {
            "label": "1–3",
            "pct": -3.1,
            "lo": -4.4,
            "hi": -1.8,
            "creators": 1055
        },
        {
            "label": "4–6",
            "pct": 3.8,
            "lo": 2.7,
            "hi": 4.9,
            "creators": 1229
        },
        {
            "label": "7 or more",
            "pct": 6.1,
            "lo": 4.2,
            "hi": 8,
            "creators": 598
        }
    ],
    "ranked": [
        {
            "label": "Over 3 minutes long",
            "pct": 24.5,
            "lo": 20.9,
            "hi": 28.1,
            "creators": 549,
            "study": "video-length",
            "group": "Length and sound"
        },
        {
            "label": "1.5–3 minutes long",
            "pct": 13.5,
            "lo": 11.6,
            "hi": 15.4,
            "creators": 1116,
            "study": "video-length",
            "group": "Length and sound"
        },
        {
            "label": "Saying the promise out loud",
            "pct": 13.1,
            "lo": 7.4,
            "hi": 19.1,
            "creators": 557,
            "study": "hooks",
            "group": "The hook"
        },
        {
            "label": "A Part 2",
            "pct": 12.4,
            "lo": 4,
            "hi": 21.4,
            "creators": 168,
            "study": "replies-and-series",
            "group": "Series and replies"
        },
        {
            "label": "A headline that promises something specific",
            "pct": 11.6,
            "lo": 5.1,
            "hi": 18.4,
            "creators": 554,
            "study": "hooks",
            "group": "The hook"
        },
        {
            "label": "A headline that tells viewers to do something",
            "pct": 10.9,
            "lo": 4.1,
            "hi": 18.2,
            "creators": 363,
            "study": "hooks",
            "group": "The hook"
        },
        {
            "label": "Talking to \"you\" in the first line",
            "pct": 10.1,
            "lo": 6.1,
            "hi": 14.2,
            "creators": 759,
            "study": "hooks",
            "group": "The hook"
        },
        {
            "label": "A list of tips",
            "pct": 9,
            "lo": 4.3,
            "hi": 13.9,
            "creators": 270,
            "study": "filming-and-editing",
            "group": "What you make"
        },
        {
            "label": "A how-to video",
            "pct": 8.9,
            "lo": 4.7,
            "hi": 13.2,
            "creators": 383,
            "study": "filming-and-editing",
            "group": "What you make"
        },
        {
            "label": "Saying what the headline says",
            "pct": 8.5,
            "lo": 3.4,
            "hi": 13.8,
            "creators": 579,
            "study": "hooks",
            "group": "The hook"
        },
        {
            "label": "Your own audio",
            "pct": 7.4,
            "lo": 6,
            "hi": 8.8,
            "creators": 1226,
            "study": "video-length",
            "group": "Length and sound"
        },
        {
            "label": "6–15 cuts a minute",
            "pct": 7.2,
            "lo": 3.3,
            "hi": 11.4,
            "creators": 365,
            "study": "filming-and-editing",
            "group": "How you film and edit"
        },
        {
            "label": "Captions plus a headline",
            "pct": 6.9,
            "lo": 1.5,
            "hi": 12.6,
            "creators": 528,
            "study": "caption-styles",
            "group": "On screen and underneath"
        },
        {
            "label": "7 or more hashtags",
            "pct": 6.1,
            "lo": 4.2,
            "hi": 8,
            "creators": 598,
            "study": "what-gets-shared",
            "group": "On screen and underneath"
        },
        {
            "label": "First frame caught mid-sentence",
            "pct": 5.6,
            "lo": 2.5,
            "hi": 8.7,
            "creators": 371,
            "study": "filming-and-editing",
            "group": "How you film and edit"
        },
        {
            "label": "First frame looking at the camera",
            "pct": 4.4,
            "lo": 0.9,
            "hi": 8,
            "creators": 326,
            "study": "filming-and-editing",
            "group": "How you film and edit"
        },
        {
            "label": "A curiosity-gap headline",
            "pct": -4.5,
            "lo": -8.6,
            "hi": -0.4,
            "creators": 614,
            "study": "hooks",
            "group": "The hook"
        },
        {
            "label": "No hashtags",
            "pct": -4.9,
            "lo": -6.5,
            "hi": -3.3,
            "creators": 953,
            "study": "what-gets-shared",
            "group": "On screen and underneath"
        },
        {
            "label": "A question in the description",
            "pct": -5,
            "lo": -6.6,
            "hi": -3.5,
            "creators": 1326,
            "study": "replies-and-series",
            "group": "On screen and underneath"
        },
        {
            "label": "Someone else's sound",
            "pct": -5.5,
            "lo": -6.8,
            "hi": -4.2,
            "creators": 1135,
            "study": "video-length",
            "group": "Length and sound"
        },
        {
            "label": "Replying to a comment",
            "pct": -5.8,
            "lo": -9.1,
            "hi": -2.3,
            "creators": 481,
            "study": "replies-and-series",
            "group": "Series and replies"
        },
        {
            "label": "A warning-style headline",
            "pct": -6.3,
            "lo": -10.9,
            "hi": -1.3,
            "creators": 506,
            "study": "hooks",
            "group": "The hook"
        },
        {
            "label": "An opinion or rant",
            "pct": -6.7,
            "lo": -12.2,
            "hi": -1,
            "creators": 190,
            "study": "filming-and-editing",
            "group": "What you make"
        },
        {
            "label": "One take, no cuts",
            "pct": -7.3,
            "lo": -11.3,
            "hi": -3,
            "creators": 313,
            "study": "filming-and-editing",
            "group": "How you film and edit"
        },
        {
            "label": "30+ cuts a minute",
            "pct": -8.7,
            "lo": -14.8,
            "hi": -2.3,
            "creators": 134,
            "study": "filming-and-editing",
            "group": "How you film and edit"
        },
        {
            "label": "A headline about \"I\" or \"my\"",
            "pct": -9.4,
            "lo": -14.7,
            "hi": -3.8,
            "creators": 458,
            "study": "hooks",
            "group": "The hook"
        },
        {
            "label": "Answering a viewer's question",
            "pct": -10.6,
            "lo": -19.4,
            "hi": -0.8,
            "creators": 61,
            "study": "filming-and-editing",
            "group": "What you make"
        },
        {
            "label": "A slow first three seconds",
            "pct": -10.7,
            "lo": -18.3,
            "hi": -2.5,
            "creators": 296,
            "study": "hooks",
            "group": "The hook"
        },
        {
            "label": "Typed-on captions",
            "pct": -11.4,
            "lo": -18.6,
            "hi": -3.6,
            "creators": 175,
            "study": "caption-styles",
            "group": "On screen and underneath"
        },
        {
            "label": "Warming up before the point",
            "pct": -14.4,
            "lo": -19.2,
            "hi": -9.4,
            "creators": 535,
            "study": "hooks",
            "group": "The hook"
        },
        {
            "label": "A TikTok Shop post",
            "pct": -18.2,
            "lo": -26.5,
            "hi": -9,
            "creators": 246,
            "study": "sponsored-posts",
            "group": "Sponsored"
        },
        {
            "label": "A brand deal",
            "pct": -19.3,
            "lo": -28.4,
            "hi": -9,
            "creators": 270,
            "study": "sponsored-posts",
            "group": "Sponsored"
        },
        {
            "label": "A personal story",
            "pct": -20.8,
            "lo": -26.3,
            "hi": -14.7,
            "creators": 145,
            "study": "filming-and-editing",
            "group": "What you make"
        },
        {
            "label": "Under 15 seconds",
            "pct": -22.1,
            "lo": -23.7,
            "hi": -20.5,
            "creators": 1111,
            "study": "video-length",
            "group": "Length and sound"
        }
    ],
    "niches": [
        {
            "niche": "Manifestation and spirituality",
            "shares_per_1000_views": 3.9
        },
        {
            "niche": "Video editing with AI",
            "shares_per_1000_views": 3.6
        },
        {
            "niche": "Real estate",
            "shares_per_1000_views": 3.4
        },
        {
            "niche": "Career advice",
            "shares_per_1000_views": 3.2
        },
        {
            "niche": "Nervous system regulation",
            "shares_per_1000_views": 3.1
        },
        {
            "niche": "Business and marketing",
            "shares_per_1000_views": 3.1
        },
        {
            "niche": "Personal finance",
            "shares_per_1000_views": 2.9
        },
        {
            "niche": "Dating and relationships",
            "shares_per_1000_views": 2.2
        },
        {
            "niche": "Fitness and nutrition",
            "shares_per_1000_views": 1.9
        },
        {
            "niche": "Skincare and beauty",
            "shares_per_1000_views": 1.4
        }
    ],
    "share_trend_pct": 11,
    "advice": [
        "Teach something. Lists of tips and how-tos got about 9% more shares than the same creator's other videos; personal stories got 21% fewer shares.",
        "Get to the point. Saying the promise out loud in the first seconds went with 13% more shares; warming up first, 14% fewer shares.",
        "Go long on TikTok. Videos over 3 minutes got 24% more shares than the creator's average; videos under 15 seconds, 22% fewer shares.",
        "Use your own voice. Your own audio got about 14% more shares than someone else's sound.",
        "Expect sponsored posts to travel less. Brand deals got 19% fewer shares."
    ],
    "tldr": [
        {
            "label": "1 in 640 viewers shares",
            "tone": "neutral",
            "text": "The typical TikTok is shared by 0.16% of viewers. The top quarter of creators get 0.30% or more; 23% of TikToks get no shares at all."
        },
        {
            "label": "Shares go with reach",
            "tone": "works",
            "text": "A creator's most-shared quarter of videos got 19% more views than their average. Their most-saved quarter: 34% more views."
        },
        {
            "label": "Useful gets shared",
            "tone": "works",
            "text": "Tips and how-tos: about 9% more shares. Personal stories: 21% fewer shares."
        },
        {
            "label": "Fast starts get shared",
            "tone": "works",
            "text": "Saying the promise out loud: 13% more shares. Warming up first: 14% fewer shares."
        },
        {
            "label": "Long beats short",
            "tone": "works",
            "text": "Over 3 minutes: 24% more shares. Under 15 seconds: 22% fewer shares."
        },
        {
            "label": "Ads travel less",
            "tone": "costs",
            "text": "Brand deals: 19% fewer shares. TikTok Shop posts: 18% fewer shares."
        }
    ],
    "key_findings": [
        {
            "headline": "About 1 in 640 viewers shares a typical TikTok",
            "text": "Across 1,582 creators, the typical (median) creator's videos are shared by 0.16% of viewers. The top quarter of creators get 0.30% or more and the top 10% 0.51% or more. 23% of TikToks weren't shared at all. Shares per view rose 11% for the same creators since early 2025."
        },
        {
            "headline": "Shared videos reach more people, and so do saved ones",
            "text": "We split each creator's videos into quarters by how much more or less than usual they were shared. Their most-shared quarter got 19% more views than their average video. The same test for saves gave 34% more views, and for likes 19% more views. Comments went the other way: videos with the most comments per view got 40% fewer views, because comments pile up on videos that reach a smaller, closer audience. Shares are rare, which makes the share rate of a small video noisy and can hide part of its link to views, so treat shares and saves as equally worth chasing."
        },
        {
            "headline": "Useful videos get shared, stories don't",
            "text": "Against the same creator's other videos, lists of tips got 9% more shares and how-tos 9% more shares. Personal stories got 21% fewer shares, opinions 7% fewer shares and answering a viewer's question 11% fewer shares. People share things that help someone else."
        },
        {
            "headline": "The hook decides whether it gets passed on",
            "text": "Saying the promise out loud went with 13% more shares, a headline that promises something specific 12% more shares and talking to \"you\" 10% more shares. Warming up before the point cost 14% fewer shares, and a headline about \"I\" or \"my\" 9% fewer shares."
        },
        {
            "headline": "Longer TikToks, your own voice, a moderate pace",
            "text": "TikToks over 3 minutes got 24% more shares than the creator's average and those under 15 seconds 22% fewer shares. Your own audio got about 14% more shares than someone else's sound. Editing at 6–15 cuts a minute went with 7% more shares; one take with no cuts, 7% fewer shares."
        }
    ],
    "faq": [
        {
            "q": "How do you get more shares on TikTok?",
            "a": "Make something useful (tips and how-tos got about 9% more shares), say the promise in the first seconds (+13%), and don't be afraid of longer videos (+24% for 3+ minutes)."
        },
        {
            "q": "What is a good share rate on TikTok?",
            "a": "The typical creator's videos are shared by 0.16% of viewers; 0.30% or more is top quarter and 0.51% or more top 10%."
        },
        {
            "q": "Are shares more important than saves?",
            "a": "Both go with reach. A creator's most-shared videos got 19% more views than their average and their most-saved 34% more views. Shares are rarer and noisier to measure, so we'd chase both."
        },
        {
            "q": "Do comments help reach?",
            "a": "Not in our data. Videos with unusually many comments per view got 40% fewer views, because comments pile up on videos that reach a smaller, closer audience."
        },
        {
            "q": "Which niches get shared most?",
            "a": "Manifestation and spirituality (3.9 shares per 1,000 views) and Video editing with AI (3.6). Lowest: Skincare and beauty (1.4)."
        },
        {
            "q": "What about Instagram?",
            "a": "Instagram doesn't show share counts on Reels publicly, so this study is TikTok only."
        }
    ],
    "method": [
        "Creators and videos: 1,701 TikTok creators in 10 niches with their posts from January 2025 (542,941 videos), leaving out videos under 14 days old, pinned videos and the video we first found each creator through. Instagram doesn't report shares.",
        "Share rate: shares per view. \"Typical\" is the median of each creator's median video; videos with no shares are counted in the rate but can't be compared on a log scale, so the comparisons below use videos with at least one share.",
        "Shares and reach: each video's views and share rate against the median of the same creator's other videos within ±30 days. Each creator's videos (at least 20) are split into quarters by that relative share rate; each quarter's views are compared with the creator's average across the four quarters, then averaged across creators. The same for saves, likes and comments.",
        "The ranking brings together share results from our other studies, each comparing a creator's videos with and without a feature (or with their own average). Only results whose 95% range is clear of zero are listed; each links to the study it comes from."
    ],
    "limitations": [
        "Observational: creators choose what to make, and some features go together (long videos are often tutorials).",
        "Rates divide by views, so a video that reached many uninterested people has a lower rate even if more people shared it in total.",
        "The ranking mixes comparisons from different samples (about 540,000 videos for length and series, about 11,000–13,000 labelled videos for hooks, format and captions).",
        "English-language talking-head creators in 10 niches; other kinds of accounts may differ."
    ],
    "images": {
        "hero": {
            "src": "img/hero.jpg",
            "width": 1800,
            "height": 1149,
            "alt": "Real frames from videos in the study:  ();  ();  ()."
        },
        "og": {
            "src": "og.jpg",
            "square": "og-square.jpg",
            "alt": "What actually gets your videos shared? 1 in 640 viewers shares a typical TikTok. Useful, fast-starting videos get shared most."
        },
        "panel": {
            "eyebrow": "YAP & DONE STUDY",
            "facts": [
                "November 2026"
            ],
            "stat": "1 in 640",
            "caption": "viewers shares a typical TikTok. Useful, fast-starting videos get shared most.",
            "frames": [
                {
                    "src": "img/panel-0.jpg",
                    "width": 420,
                    "height": 746
                },
                {
                    "src": "img/panel-1.jpg",
                    "width": 420,
                    "height": 746
                },
                {
                    "src": "img/panel-2.jpg",
                    "width": 420,
                    "height": 746
                }
            ]
        },
        "cards": [
            {
                "id": "teach",
                "headline": "Lists of tips and how-tos",
                "stat": "9%",
                "unit": "more shares",
                "feed": "share/teach-feed.png",
                "story": "share/teach-story.png",
                "alt": "Lists of tips and how-tos: 9% more shares than the same creator's other videos.  Yap & Done study of 1,701 TikTok creators, 2026."
            },
            {
                "id": "stories",
                "headline": "Personal stories",
                "stat": "21%",
                "unit": "fewer shares",
                "feed": "share/stories-feed.png",
                "story": "share/stories-story.png",
                "alt": "Personal stories: 21% fewer shares than the same creator's other videos.  Yap & Done study of 1,701 TikTok creators, 2026."
            },
            {
                "id": "long",
                "headline": "TikToks over 3 minutes long",
                "stat": "25%",
                "unit": "more shares",
                "feed": "share/long-feed.png",
                "story": "share/long-story.png",
                "alt": "TikToks over 3 minutes long: 25% more shares than the same creator's average video.  Yap & Done study of 1,701 TikTok creators, 2026."
            }
        ],
        "charts": [
            {
                "id": "ranked",
                "title": "What goes with more (and fewer) shares on TikTok",
                "src": "charts/ranked.png",
                "alt": "What goes with more (and fewer) shares on TikTok. Shares per view against the same creator's other videos. Only results clear of the margin of error."
            },
            {
                "id": "reach",
                "title": "Views of each creator's most-engaged quarter of videos",
                "src": "charts/reach.png",
                "alt": "Views of each creator's most-engaged quarter of videos. Against the creator's average, by which kind of engagement was unusually high."
            }
        ]
    }
}