Marketing in the age of the (social) lurker
Where has all the engagement gone?
If you've looked at your social media analytics recently and felt a little deflated with the lack of comments, slower follower growth, crickets where there used to be conversation - you're not imagining it. It would appear that people are disengaging.
But what the data actually shows us is - your audience hasn't left. They've just changed how they engage.
OK, so what’s going on?
Ofcom data shows that only 49% of UK adults are actively posting on social media - down from 61% the year before. Meanwhile, comments on Instagram are down 16% and TikTok down 24%.
At a recent webinar we ran, we asked the room how often they leave comments on brand content in their own time. 68% said rarely or never.
These are marketers like you and I - people who build social media strategies for a living. And even we're not commenting!
So if that's us… what are we really expecting from our audiences?
Where engagement actually went
Comments on TikTok are down 24%. Shares are up 45%.
Comments on Instagram are down 16%. Shares are up 12%.
(Ref: Social Insider 2026 Social Media Benchmarks)
People aren't switching off - they're just doing it privately. Saving. Sharing in a DM. Forwarding to a friend. Dropping something in the family WhatsApp.
So its’ not disengagement but rather a more considered form of participation that’s not public.
Sends and shares are now the number one signal Instagram uses to determine whether content is worth showing to more people.
Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram
The algorithm has already moved on. The question is whether our reporting has.
So what does good look like now?
Our advice is to stop leading reports with follower growth and comment counts and start tracking:
Shares and sends - Is your content DM-worthy? Would someone forward it to a friend?
Saves - Is it useful enough that people want to come back to it?
Watch time and retention - Are people actually staying, or dropping off in the first three seconds?
Reach with non-followers - Is your content travelling beyond your existing audience?
If those numbers are moving in the right direction, your content is healthy, even if the comment section looks quiet.
Followers and comments are the results that many senior leaders expect to see. However this is the tip of the iceberg. Below the surface is evidence that people find your content useful so they share it in DMs; they watch your videos until the end, or perhaps they save it to come back to.
What this means for how you create
The best-performing content right now tends to do one of a few things: it teaches something genuinely useful, it makes someone feel seen, it says the thing your audience is already thinking but hasn't said out loud, or it's so relatable it immediately makes someone think of a specific person they want to send it to.
Comments are the most expensive form of attention to earn right now. Shares, saves, and watch time are far more honest signals of whether your content is landing.
Content must earn the right to be shared. The best-performing posts are the ones people send to friends or colleagues and are usable or relatable.
Check out these examples from Shelter, Marie Curie UK, Medical Aid for Palestinians & Young Minds 👇
Content that lands is sharable, by saying what others’ are thinking or feeling.
But what about when stakeholders push back?
Don't say: "Our engagement is down."
Say: "Our audience has become more private in how they engage - which reflects a wider cultural shift. Our content is being shared and saved at a growing rate, which means it's reaching new audiences and being kept for reference. That's what healthy content looks like in 2026."
The metrics haven't failed you. You've just been measuring the wrong ones. Our video about communicating the value of social can help with how to navigate conversations about social performance.
Times are changing and the way we understand and talk about social must too.
If you want to chat with us about that first, just shout.