Social Status (https://www.socialstatus.io/) is a social media analytics platform that automates your social media reporting. This 2020 Social Media Metrics Glossary covers social metrics in our Profile Analytics product. Create your free account today.

1. Metrics Glossary
January 2020 | Page 1
Metrics Glossary
January 2020

2. Metrics Glossary
January 2020 | Page 2
www.socialstatus.io
Unpublished posts / dark posts / off-page posts / blind
posts / ghost posts
Five terms that all mean the same thing 🙄. Unpublished
posts are ads which are not published on your page or
profile. Because these ads are not visible on the page or
profile, you won’t be able to see them in the Profile Analytics
section of your report. Profile Analytics tracks published
posts only. To see performance for unpublished posts (ads)
you’ll need to check the Ads Analytics section of your report.
Post level vs Page level metrics
Profile Analytics includes post-level metrics only, not page-
level metrics. For example, your page-level Impressions will
likely be higher than your post-level Impressions. Page-level
Impressions include users visiting, messaging or checking-in
to your page whereas post-level Impressions are the
impressions on your posts only.
Post performance during report time interval
When a report is generated it represents post performance at
a specific moment in time. Reach, Impressions, Video Views,
Interactions and Link Clicks will likely continue on posts after
the report is generated. For example, if you post on the 30th
of the month and then on the 1st of the new month you create
a report. This will obviously only capture results on that
specific post as at the 1st of the month. If you check back on
the post several days later you will likely see higher reach or
interactions than what is quoted in the original report.
Metric differences over time
Throughout Social Status reports you will see up/down
arrows next to most metrics. These percentages indicate the
positive or negative change in the metric vs the previous
report time interval. For example, in a monthly report, these
percentages indicate the month-on-month change in a given
metric.
Concepts

3. Metrics Glossary
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Reach & Impressions Metrics
TOTAL IMPRESSIONS
ORGANIC REACH RATE (ORR)
114,025
10.04%
Post Reach
ORGANIC
PAID
55,823
58,202
AVERAGE 28-DAY REACH
87,156
AVERAGE POST REACH
14,526
AVERAGE POST IMPRESSIONS
19,004
Reach & Impressions Metrics FAQ
What’s the difference between Reach & Impressions?
Whilst both metrics refer to content views, they are very
different. Reach refers to views from unique people while
Impressions refers to total (non-unique) views. This difference
is important because your content can be seen by the same
person multiple times. This means at the post level, the
Impressions metric will likely be higher than the Reach metric
because some people would have seen the same posts
multiple times.
Are paid Impressions included?
Yes, the Total Impressions metric includes all organic and
paid Impressions on published posts. Remember,
unpublished post Impressions are not included in these totals.
You will need to refer to the Ads Analytics section for these.
Why isn’t there a “Total Reach” metric?
Unfortunately this is a limitation imposed by Facebook. They
only provide Reach at the post level. Aggregate Total Reach
is only provided at a 7-day and 28-day time interval. This is
why we use an “Average 28-day Reach” metric. Also, Reach
is not an available metric on Twitter.
Can I sum all the post Reach to get Total Reach?
Some marketers sum all the Reach of individual posts
together and report this as Total Reach. However in doing so,
they are double-counting unique people across posts so the
total count would not represent true Reach and instead would
be somewhere between Reach and Impressions (ie: non-
unique Reach).
AVERAGE POST IMPRESSIONS = Total Impressions (organic + paid) across
all published posts divided by the number of published posts.
AVERAGE 28-DAY REACH = The “28-Day Reach” total each day (at the page
level) averaged out across the report time interval. This is the closest you can
get to true Total Reach and is the recommended alternative to summing post
reach.
ORGANIC REACH RATE (ORR) = Organic Reach divided by Page Likes
averaged out across all published posts in the report time interval. This is a
Facebook metric only and represents the percentage of your Fans who saw
your published posts organically.
TOTAL IMPRESSIONS = Total impressions (organic + paid) of all your
published posts during the report time interval. (Remember, unpublished post
Impressions are not included in this total). For Facebook, you’ll see Total
Impressions split into separate “organic” and “paid” metrics, however for the
other social channels you’ll see a total (organic + paid) metric. We’re working
with Twitter at the moment to bring Tweet Impressions to Social Status.
AVERAGE POST REACH = Total Reach (organic + paid) across all published
posts divided by the number of published posts. Please note, Post Reach is not
available for Twitter.

4. Metrics Glossary
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www.socialstatus.io
Video Metrics
VIDEO VIEWS (3-SEC)
41,740
Video Metrics FAQ
What constitutes a Video View?
For Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn the default
video view is 3-seconds. This means if a user is scrolling
through News Feed and a native video autoplays – it will
count as a Video View if at least 3 seconds was visible on
the screen. We provide several other metrics to help you
measure the level of viewership including 10-second Video
Views and 95% Video Views. Like the Reach & Impression
metrics, these metrics are based on published posts and do
not include unpublished posts. For Facebook and
Instagram, 3-second Video Views are split into organic and
paid metrics while the other social channels are a
combined organic + paid total.
What about Video Views on YouTube?
On YouTube, a “Video View” is not as simple as a certain
amount of seconds watched. YouTube has a sophisticated
system for determining a Video View. It takes into account
the amount of seconds watched, who watches it, their
device, watch history and a number of other criteria.
YouTube’s methodology is essentially a black box and it is
at their discretion what constitutes a “Video View”.
Why are Impressions greater than Video Views?
At the post level, Impressions (and Reach) should be
greater than Video Views. This is because an Impression is
immediate, whereas a Video View counts after 3 seconds.
So if someone watches a video for only 2 seconds, they will
count as an Impression (and as Reach) but they won’t be
counted as a Video View.
3-SEC VIDEO VIEW RATE (VVR) = 3-sec Video Views divided by Post Reach
averaged out across all published posts in the report time interval.
CLICKS TO PLAY = the number of organic + paid clicks or taps on a video to
play/pause on all published posts during the report time interval. Clicks to Play
is a Facebook and Instagram metric only. On mobile, this will launch the video
full screen and activate sound.
VIDEO VIEWS (10-SEC)
VIDEO VIEWS (95%)
3-SEC VIDEO VIEW RATE (VVR)
10-SEC VIDEO VIEW RATE (VVR)
10,540
2,934
45.42%
11.30%
Video Views
CLICKS TO PLAY
1,140
VIDEO VIEWS (3-SEC) = the number of video views lasting for 3-seconds or
longer on all published posts during the report time interval. (Remember,
unpublished post Video Views are not included in this total). For Facebook and
Instagram, you’ll see Video Views split into separate “organic” and “paid”
metrics, however for the other social channels you’ll see a total (organic + paid)
metric.
VIDEO VIEWS (10-SEC) = the number of video views lasting for 10-seconds or
longer on all published posts during the report time interval. (Remember,
unpublished post Video Views are not included in this total).
VIDEO VIEWS (95%) = the number of video views lasting for at least 95% of
the video length on all published posts during the report time interval.
(Remember, unpublished post Video Views are not included in this total).
10-SEC VIDEO VIEW RATE (VVR) = 10-sec Video Views divided by Post
Reach averaged out across all published posts in the report time interval.

5. Metrics Glossary
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REACTIONS
COMMENTS
SHARES
ER ON ENGAGEMENTS
Engagement Metrics
721
57
76
4.51%
Engagement
TOTAL ENGAGEMENTS
4,421
PHOTO VIEWS
169
ER ON RCS
0.93%
Engagement Metrics FAQ
What is considered an “Engagement”?
Just like Video Views, an “Engagement” means different
things on different channels. Usually, the social channels
will throw in as many metrics as possible to make the
Engagement number big and impressive. For example, the
Facebook Engagements metric is a “roll-up” consisting of
no less than eight metrics: Reactions + Comments +
Shares + Photo Views + Video Views + Clicks to Play +
Link Clicks + Other Clicks.
What is considered an “Interaction”?
For cross-channel analysis, we recommend benchmarking
Interactions. These are the publicly viewable metrics. For
example, on Facebook, these are Reactions + Comments +
Shares (RCS). On Instagram these are Likes + Comments.
On Twitter these are Likes + Replies + Retweets. On
YouTube and LinkedIn these are Likes + Comments +
Shares.
Why are there 2 different Engagement Rates?
We prefer the Engagement Rate (ER) to be based on
Interactions because it’s a much fairer way to benchmark
performance across multiple social channels. For
Facebook this is Reaction + Comments + Shares (RCS)
divided by Reach. The only issue with this, is that
Facebook generally report a much higher and more
impressive Engagement Rate (ER) because they base this
on their definition of “Engagements” which, as mentioned
above, are 8 metrics instead of 3. We provide both versions
of ER so you can decide which one you prefer to report on.
ENGAGEMENT RATE (ER) ON REACTIONS, COMMENTS, SHARES (RCS)
= Reactions + Comments + Shares divided by Post Reach. This version of ER
is the one to use for cross-channel benchmarking because it’s a fairer
comparison and is based on Interactions (the publicly-viewable actions).
TOTAL ENGAGEMENTS = the total amount of channel-specific actions that
users have taken on your posts. Remember that Engagements mean different
things on each social channel.
ENGAGEMENT RATE (ER) ON ENGAGEMENTS = Post Engagements
divided by Post Reach. This is the big, impressive number that includes all
possible actions taken on a post. This metric should not be used to benchmark
cross-channel performance.

6. Metrics Glossary
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www.socialstatus.io
Growth Metrics
PAGE LIKES ON SEP 30
NEW PAGE LIKES IN SEP
UNLIKES IN SEP
NET CHANGE IN PAGE LIKES
GROWTH RATE (GR)
PAGE LIKES ON SEP 1
143,786
2,571
494
1,997
1.40%
141,789
Page GrowthGrowth Metrics FAQ
Why doesn’t the Net Change equal New Likes minus
Unlikes?
Unlikes or Unfollows don’t only happen explicitly when the
user unlikes a page or unfollows a profile. They also occur
when the social channel removes fake users or bot
accounts. These kinds of removals are not available
Why is my fan base / follower base declining?
Some profiles experience negative growth (declining Page
Likes or Followers) over time. This is quite common,
especially on Instagram where bots and automated
services bulk follow and bulk unfollow accounts as an
acquisition strategy. In addition, all the social channels are
taking a proactive stance on removing fake accounts or
click-farm profiles. Negative growth is nothing to worry
about. In fact in most cases, the number of Page Likes or
Followers has little to no correlation to how “successful” a
social account really is.
UNLIKES = the total number of unlikes on Facebook or unfollows on
Instagram. This number does not include fans or followers who have been
removed because they are fake or are deemed to be a bot.
GROWTH RATE (GR) = Page Likes on the last day of the time interval minus
Page Likes on the first day of the time interval divided by Page Likes on the
first day of the time interval. This metric represents the rate of growth for the
report time interval. Remember, you can’t benchmark a GR from different time
intervals – for example a weekly GR vs a monthly GR.
NET CHANGE = Page Likes on the last day of the time interval minus Page
Likes on the first day of the time interval. This metric is simply the difference
between the fan or follower count over the report time interval.

7. Metrics Glossary
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OTHER CLICKS
CLICK THROUGH RATE (CTR)
Link Click Metrics
2,115
1.19%
Link Clicks
LINK CLICKS
1,283
Link Click Metrics FAQ
What constitutes a “Link Click”?
A link click is any click or tap on a URL. Thankfully, this is
one of the more simple metrics which works the same way
across channels. Twitter call this metric “URL Clicks” but it
means the same thing.
What are “Other Clicks”?
Other Clicks is a Facebook concept which includes any
other possible click or tap which is not a Link Click,
Interaction or Photo View. This includes clicks on the “see
more” text link, profile photo or name clicks or any other
clicks on the post itself. Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn
don’t have this concept. Twitter instead breakdown each
possible type of click, eg: User profile clicks, Hashtag
clicks, Detail expands, Permalink clicks.
LINK CLICKS = the total number of clicks on URLs in the post text or on a
rendered post-card (the rectangle underneath the post text which is clickable /
tapable on Facebook).
CLICK THROUGH RATE = Clicks on Links divided by Reach, averaged out
across all published posts in the report time interval.
OTHER CLICKS = the total number of non-URL, non-photo view and non-
interaction clicks.