MoMU · Malaysians of Melbourne University Social Report 2025 / 26

The year in reels and posts

Everything we put on Instagram from October 2025 to September 2026, and what the numbers show.

88 reels 46 posts 1 Oct to 7 Sep

The big numbers

594k
Total reel views for the year. That works out to about 6,748 a reel.
17.9k
Likes and comments across everything we posted. Reels get around 18 comments each.
2.2%
Average likes and comments over views per reel.
18.7k
Views on our best reel, from 11 August. The 23 January one was almost level with it.

How the reels did

Reels get seen far more than posts do. Each bar is one reel, in the order we posted them. The three biggest are marked in ochre.

Views per reel, October 2025 to September 2026
88 reels, oldest on the left
We started the year well, with reels in October and November often getting 8,000 to 14,000 views. Over autumn and winter that dropped to more like 4,000 to 5,000, then picked back up in August. Two reels did much better than everything else, one in January and one in August.

Did posting more often help

We posted a lot more in some months than others, it did not make a big difference.

Reels posted per month against average views
bars are the count, the line is average views that month
April to June was our busiest run, 29 reels in three months, and also our worst, averaging about 5,400 views. The quieter months from October to January averaged closer to 7,700. Posting more often just meant each reel got seen less. Over the year we did about two reels a week, and six in our busiest week.

The two great posts

Posted 11 August 2026

The student visa Q and A reel

"Your future in Australia starts here. Got questions about visas, work, study or staying post-grad?"

Views
18,710
Likes
213
Comments
14
Posted 23 January 2026

The "they made a reel" reel

"They made a reel. #unimelb #student #relatable #momuians"

Views
18,372
Likes
271
Comments
11

How the posts did

Posts get seen by fewer people than reels.

Likes per post
46 posts, oldest on the left
Most posts sit between 50 and 150 likes. The one that stood out was the 14 August carousel about finding pieces of Malaysia around Melbourne, at 779 likes. The 25/26 committee reveal in May came next at 388.
Carousels against single images
average likes per post
Carousels got more than double the likes of single images, 170 against 80 on average. They are worth the extra effort.

Does the day matter

Average reel views by the day of the week we posted. Some days only have a few reels behind them, so this is rough.

Average reel views by day of week
number of reels shown on each bar
Tuesday is highest, with Wednesday to Friday close behind. Monday is lowest and weekends sit in the middle. Midweek does a bit better, but not by much.

How this year compares

Statistics from October 2024 to September 2025 were also collected. Below shows how this year compares to that year.

Reels posted
88This year
←
98Last year
-10%
Posts
46This year
←
44Last year
+5%
Views per reel, on average
6,748This year
←
6,902Last year
-2%
Likes and comments, all up
17,872This year
←
13,908Last year
+29%
Engagement rate
2.2%This year
←
1.5%Last year
+41%
Carousel posts, average likes
170This year
←
130Last year
+31%
Average reel views by month, this year against last year
lined up October to September both years
The two years took different paths to a similar place. Last year's views built up slowly, from 2,700 views in January up to 8,000 by the middle of the year. On the contrary, this year started off strong at nearly 11,000 in October and drifted down from there before picking back up in August. Average views per reel got a little fewer this year, 6,748 against 6,902, but this year's reels got a lot more likes and comments per reel than last year's did (17,872 against 13,908).

What to try next

  1. Post fewer reels and put more into each one

    Our busiest months were our worst ones. Two or three good reels a week beats one every other day. Give each one a few days before the next goes up.

  2. Keep reels quick and simple

    Both of our best reels were short and funny. It is the same story all year. Committee members just being themselves on camera does better than anything that looks staged.

  3. Use carousels for posts

    They get more than double the likes of a single photo. Recaps, guides and reveals all work well as a swipe. Use one whenever there is more than one thing to show.

  4. Aim for midweek

    Tuesday to Friday has done better than Monday or the weekend. Not a strict rule, but worth leaning that way when we can.

  5. Ask people to follow, in the reel

    Lots of people who see our reels do not follow us. A simple "follow @momuians for more" on screen and in the caption is free and it helps.