"Ask for likes — engagement signals tell the algorithm to push you"

"Ask for likes — engagement signals tell the algorithm to push you"
The crowd treats likes as the currency of reach. Beginners beg for them in every caption.

Likes are a weak, late signal. The system decides whether to keep pushing within the first seconds, using watch-time signals you can't see: completion rate, rewatches, and average watch duration. A video can rack up likes and still die if people don't finish it.

What's true: optimize for the loop, not the tap. Make the last second flow into the first so people rewatch, and cut anything that bleeds watch-time. Likes follow retention, not the other way around.