Retention rate

Retention is usually shown as a curve: a hundred per cent at the first frame, falling as people leave. The shape of that curve tells you more about a clip than any total-views figure, because it shows exactly where interest broke.

Reading the curve

• →A cliff in the first two seconds means the hook failed.
• →A steady slope is normal and healthy.
• →A sudden drop mid-clip points at a specific moment — a slow passage, a confusing cut.
• →A rise near the end usually means people are rewatching, which is a strong signal.
• →Above one hundred per cent at any point means loops are being counted.

Why short form weighs it so heavily

A feed's job is to keep someone scrolling for another twenty minutes. Completion is the cleanest available evidence that a clip contributed to that, and it is much harder to manipulate than likes or follows. A clip with modest reach and high completion will usually be pushed further than one with the reverse.

What actually improves it

Shortening is the blunt instrument and it works: a forty-second clip finishes more often than a ninety-second one. Beyond that, retention improves by removing dead air, cutting the run-up to the point, and making sure the clip ends deliberately rather than trailing off. Clips that end mid-sentence lose the completion they had already earned.