Where each app keeps the numbers that matter, what they really mean, and the same question’s name in every app. Then check a video against your own usual.
The first seconds decide everything else. If people leave here, fix the hook before anything.
Read it next to the video’s length: 15 seconds is great for a 20-second video and poor for a 2-minute one.
A sudden drop points to one moment. A slow slide points to pacing.
Finishing is a sign the payoff was worth it, and on short videos it often leads to replays.
Views mean different things in each app, so never compare raw view counts across apps.
The line above the retention graph says the second most viewers stopped watching. Traffic source and search terms show how people found it, when available.
TikTok Creator Academy: analytics ↗Average watch time includes replays, so it can be longer than the reel. Data can take up to 48 hours to settle.
Instagram Help: reel insights ↗Retention is only shown per video, and can take a day or two to process.
YouTube Help: key moments for audience retention ↗“Average watch time” is now called Average minutes viewed, and plays are called Views. Replays count, so the average can be longer than the reel.
Meta: introducing Views ↗A Pinterest video view needs 2 seconds of play with at least half the video on screen.
Pinterest Help: Pin stats ↗Enter a video’s length and average watch time (seconds, or minutes like 1:05), then do the same for a few recent videos of similar length. It compares the share people watched. Nothing leaves your device.
Numbers keep moving for 24 to 48 hours. Judge a video on day 3, not hour 3.
Your typical video is the only fair yardstick. Someone else’s numbers come from a different audience.
One hit drags your average up. Compare against your median video instead.
Retention on a 15-second video and a 3-minute one aren’t comparable. Compare like with like.
One video tells you little. Three videos with the same drop at the same moment tell you a lot.
Checked October 2026 against each app’s help pages. Apps rename and move these often; if something here has changed, let Ray know.
Every number answers a question about your viewer: did they stop, did they stay, did they care enough to share. Read them in that order. A video with a weak start can’t be saved by a great ending, because almost nobody saw the ending.
And keep your eyes on your own trend line. A video that does a little better than your last five is real progress, whatever anyone else’s numbers look like.
Whether people stopped scrolling, then how much of the video they watched. Shares, saves and follows come after those.
One that beats your own usual for a video of similar length. Benchmarks from other creators come from different audiences and different lengths, so they mislead more than they help.
Instagram and Facebook count replays, so a short reel people rewatch can average more than its own length.
Each app counts a view differently. Pinterest needs 2 seconds with half the video on screen; Instagram counts every start and replay. Compare each app with itself.
Chapter 59 of Worth Watching covers reading your numbers, Chapter 60 covers fair tests that don’t fool you, and Chapter 61 turns them into your next fix.
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