Did the reach really drop?

The feeling that Instagram has turned against you is extremely common and occasionally correct. This compares the most recent posts against the account's own normal, which is the only comparison that means anything.

What the number means

The tool takes the engagement on the three most recent posts and compares it with the median of everything it can see. Around 100% means business as usual. Well under means the recent posts genuinely underperformed for this account. Well over means something recently worked.

Note what is being measured: engagement, not reach. Reach is private and only the owner sees it in the app. They move together most of the time, and when they do not, the app's own insights are the place to look.

The boring explanations, in the order they are usually true

• The posts were different. Format, subject, or effort changed. Compare the weakest and strongest recent post and the answer is often visible.
• A previous post was unusually good. One hit raises the bar you are now measuring yourself against, which feels like a fall.
• Followers grew faster than interest. A giveaway or a viral moment adds people who do not engage, and every later post looks worse.
• You posted more often. The same attention spread over more posts is less per post.
• Actual suppression. It exists, mostly for content that brushes the rules or for repeatedly recycled material, and it is far rarer than the internet believes.

Where to look next

A drop is usually explained by something the full audit shows: a change of format, a change of cadence, or followers arriving faster than interest. If the timing changed too, the hours that worked for this account is the other half of the answer. And if the follower count grew suddenly, check whether the audience still behaves like a real one.

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