If you’ve spent any time on social media lately, it’s easy to believe that video is the be-all and end-all. Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, TikToks, LinkedIn’s video feed: it’s everywhere, and it feels like every platform is building for it.
If you’re looking to build an audience, “more video” is often touted as the answer.
But is that true? It turns out — as is often the case with social media — it depends. Video certainly performs best on some platforms, but it’s not quite as cut-and-dried on others.
This data comes from our 2026 State of Social Media Engagement report, which analyzed millions of posts across all major platforms.
And, at the risk of sounding like a clickbait-y video hook (sorry) — the results might surprise you.
While video often gets the spotlight, it’s not always the best path to engagement. Let’s examine how different content types perform on Threads, TikTok, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Bluesky.
Before we dig in, the usual Ts and Cs: The best content for you depends on your target audience. Every audience is different, so there is no one-size-fits-all approach that’s going to work for every social media account.
To pinpoint what works best for you, I’d encourage you to start with a social media content strategy and, from there, experiment with different types of content in your social media content calendar.
Use the data in this article as a starting point to help you figure out what kind of content is most likely to resonate with your followers.
Key takeaways
- LinkedIn carousels (PDF posts) earn a median engagement rate of 21.77% — 196% more than video and 585% more than text posts — the highest of any format across all platforms in this analysis.
- Instagram carousels drive 109% more engagement per person reached than reels — but reels reach 2.25× more people than single-image posts, making format choice goal-dependent.
- TikTok video earns 77% more engagement than carousels and photos (3.39% vs. 1.92% median engagement rate).
- Pinterest video earns 83% more engagement than images (5.75% vs. 3.15%), despite the platform’s image-first reputation.
- Threads video leads engagement at 5.55% — nearly double text posts (2.79%) — on a platform primarily associated with conversation.
- Facebook is the most format-agnostic platform in this dataset: images, video, and text posts all fall within one percentage point of each other.
- On X, text leads with a 3.56% median engagement rate — but images have narrowed the gap to just 5%.
- Reach and engagement often point in opposite directions: the format that reaches the most new people (usually video or reels) is rarely the format that drives the deepest engagement from existing followers (usually carousels).
On to the data. Here are the best types of social media content for each platform in 2026.
Best content format by platform — at a glance
| Platform | Best format for engagement | Engagement rate | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carousels (PDF posts) | 21.77% | Video: 7.35% | |
| Video | 5.75% | Images: 3.15% | |
| Threads | Video | 5.55% | Images: 4.55% |
| Carousels | 6.9%* | Single images: 4.4%* | |
| Images | 5.20% | Video: 4.84% | |
| TikTok | Video | 3.39% | Carousels/photos: 1.92% |
| X | Text | 3.56% | Images: 3.40% |
| Bluesky | Video | 5 interactions† | Images: 4 interactions† |
*Instagram engagement rate measured as a percentage of reach. Note: Reels outperform all formats for reach — 2.25× more than single-image posts.
†Bluesky uses median total interactions rather than engagement rate; data is early-stage.
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The best content format on TikTok
On TikTok, video earns a median engagement rate of 3.39% — 77% higher than carousels and photo posts — making it the clear top-performing format on the platform.
To say that video reigns supreme on TikTok feels a bit like stating the obvious. The short-form video-sharing platform is, after all, just that.
Despite TikTok introducing carousels (multi-photo posts) in recent years, videos are still the TikTok algorithm’s bread and butter. What’s interesting is how much of a gap remains between the two formats.
In this analysis, we measured success by median engagement rate. We found that videos pulled well ahead of carousels and photo posts.
Here’s a closer look at the numbers:
- 🏅 Videos claimed the top spot, earning a median engagement rate of 3.39% — 77% higher than carousels and photo posts at 1.92%.
- 🥈 Carousels and photos placed second, but with a significant gap behind video.
If you’re aiming for engagement on TikTok, video isn’t just a good bet — it’s a significantly better one.
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Using the median (middle value) rather than the average helps give a more realistic picture of how content performs for most creators and brands, without extreme outliers distorting the numbers.
The best content format on Instagram
It often feels like Instagram has gone all-in on video, with Instagram Reels getting their own discovery feed and even a dedicated video editing app. But our latest data says something different: carousels lead the platform with a 6.9% median engagement rate — higher than reels, single images, and stories.
However, performance looks completely different when you look at reach, rather than engagement rate.
Here’s the engagement picture first. We looked at median engagement rate as a percentage of reach — in other words, how many of the people who saw your post actually interacted with it.
- 🏅 Carousels led the way, with a median engagement rate of 6.9% — the highest of any format on the platform.
- 🥈 Stories came in second at 5.1%, though the sample size here is small (n=520), so treat that one with caution.
- 🥉 Single images followed in third at 4.4%.
- 4️⃣ Reels landed last, with a median engagement rate of 3.3%.
But wait! cue video rewind sound effect This analysis is not the whole story.
Here, we measured engagement rate. But reels are often optimized for views rather than these kinds of interactions, so a lower engagement rate doesn’t necessarily mean reels aren’t working. It may just mean people are consuming them differently.
Also, the format breakdown above doesn’t capture the full picture, because reach and engagement point in different directions on Instagram.
A separate analysis of 4M+ posts published via Buffer between January 2022 and October 2024 showed us that:
Reels tend to get the most reach
- Reels vs carousels: 1.36× the reach (+36%)
- Reels vs single-image posts: 2.25x the reach (+125%)
Instagram has a dedicated reels discovery tab, so reels have a built-in advantage for reaching people who don’t already follow you — formats that live only in the regular feed don’t get that same boost.
Carousels keep people on the post longer, meaning more chances to save, share, and comment, and potentially multiple chances to reappear in-feed.
It’s a bit like Instagram is two different platforms in one, depending on where you post your content. And which ‘platform’ you choose depends on the goal of your content.
Fascinating, right? So while reels are great for discoverability (and getting more followers on Instagram), if your goal is deeper engagement from your existing audience, carousels might deserve more space in your content plan.
The “best format on Instagram” has no single answer — it really depends on your goals.
The short version: use Instagram Reels when you want to reach people who don’t follow you yet, and carousels when you want to deepen engagement with the audience you already have.
The best content format on Facebook
On old faithful Facebook, images still lead at 5.2% — but the real story is how close the race has become. Images, videos, and text posts are all clustered within one percentage point of each other.
Here’s a look at the numbers:
- 🏅 Images took first place for engagement rate on Facebook at 5.2%, edging out the other formats.
- 🥈 Videos followed closely in second at 4.84% — only 7% behind images.
- 🥉 Text posts were close behind at 4.76%, just 9% below images.
- 4️⃣ Posts with links came in last at 4.43%, drawing the lowest engagement of all content types on the platform.
The really notable thing here isn’t who won, but rather, it’s how close the race has become.
The clearest signal in this data is actually at the bottom: links continue to underperform everything else, which fits with the broader trend toward zero-click content. Platforms and their users increasingly prefer to stay put.
The best content format on Threads
Threads surprised me in our last analysis — and it’s done it again, just in a different direction. This time, video has taken the top spot with a 5.55% median engagement rate, up from second place in our previous data.
The numbers:
- 🏅 Videos claimed first place for engagement rate on Threads at 5.55% — 22% ahead of images and nearly double text posts.
- 🥈 Images followed in second at 4.55%, still well ahead of the text-based formats.
- 🥉 Text posts landed in third at 2.79%, with 19% more engagement than link posts.
- 4️⃣ Posts with links came in last at 2.34%.
What I find most interesting here is the continued gap between visuals (video and images) and text or links. For a platform that’s built around conversation, visuals seem to stop the scroll more effectively. Worth noting if you’re looking to grow on Threads!
That said, Threads is still a young platform, and its algorithms are actively evolving — so keep a close eye on your own analytics here, and watch the Buffer blog for updates.
The best content format on LinkedIn
If you’ve read any of our previous data studies, this one won’t shock you: LinkedIn carousels are still on top. Carousels earned a median engagement rate of 21.77%, 196% more than video and 585% more than text posts.
The numbers:
- 🏅 Carousels (document posts) earned a median engagement rate of 21.77% — 196% more than videos, 234% more than images, and 585% more than text-only posts.
- 🥈 Videos came in second at 7.35%, with 13% more engagement than images.
- 🥉 Images followed in third at 6.52%.
- 4️⃣ Links landed in fourth at 3.81%, drawing more engagement than text-only posts.
- 5️⃣ Text posts came in last at 3.18%.
Those carousel numbers are tough to ignore. A 21.77% median engagement rate is exceptional for any platform, let alone one as crowded as LinkedIn has become.
That said, the advice I gave last time still stands — LinkedIn is evolving fast, and video is clearly the format the platform is pushing. In an episode of our podcast, Buffer Chat, LinkedIn’s Head of Premium Content & Community Strategy, Callie Schweitzer, recommended that creators lean into video.
“Video, Video, Video, Video,” she said, when I asked for her growth advice. If you have the time and energy to do both, carousels for engagement and video for reach is a solid combination.
The best content format on X
Text still sees the most median engagement on X (formerly Twitter).
Even with the social network’s much-talked-about desire to become “the everything app,” X remains true to its microblogging roots.
Here’s a closer look:
- 🏅 Text posts saw a median engagement rate of 3.56% — 5% ahead of images, 20% ahead of videos, and 58% ahead of link posts.
- 🥈 Images followed closely in second at 3.40% — the gap between first and second is now razor-thin.
- 🥉 Videos landed in third at 2.96%, with 32% more engagement than link posts.
- 4️⃣ Posts with links came in last at 2.25%.
X is fundamentally a text-first platform — hot takes, real-time reactions, and punchy one-liners are what it was built for. But images have crept up to almost match text in engagement rate, which is a shift worth watching.
Short video clips can also give you an edge over static posts if you have them.
The best content format on Pinterest
I’ll admit — I wasn’t expecting this one. Pinterest is basically synonymous with beautiful still images, so video leading on engagement feels counterintuitive. But the numbers are pretty clear.
The numbers:
- 🏅 Videos earned a median engagement rate of 5.75% — 83% higher than images.
- 🥈 Images followed in second at 3.15%.
Pinterest has been investing heavily in video, and the data suggests those efforts are paying off in engagement. If you’re using Pinterest primarily as a visual catalogue — which, honestly, is how most people still use it — it might be worth testing a few video pins to see if the engagement bump holds for your audience.
The best content format on Bluesky
Bluesky is the newcomer on this list, and we’re working with earlier-stage data — so treat this as a first look rather than a final verdict. That said, the early signal is clear: video leads with a median of 5 interactions, 25% more than images.
The numbers:
- 🏅 Videos earned a median of 5 total interactions — 25% more than images.
- 🥈 Images followed with a median of 4 interactions.
- 🥉 Links and text posts tied in last, both earning a median of 3 interactions.
A few caveats worth keeping in mind: Bluesky’s user base is still relatively small compared to the other platforms in this analysis, and video content on the platform is far less common than images (253K video posts vs. over 2 million image posts in our dataset).
We’ll be watching this one closely as the platform matures.
So, which content format is the best?
As I touched on above, that really depends on you and your audience.
What works for most creators or brands might not be the sweet spot for you, and it’s always, always worth experimenting with other content types to see what works.
Perhaps even more importantly: What is the content format you’re going to be able to create most consistently?
In other studies, we’ve found that content performance on all platforms is strongly linked to consistency. (In fact, it might yield as much as 5x more likes, comments, and shares across the board.)
So if you’re going to be able to show up more consistently with text-based posts, great — stick to those.
Back to video: while it performs well across nearly every platform — and is often really great for reach — it’s not universally the highest engagement format. On some platforms, like LinkedIn and Facebook, carousels and photos steal the show. On X, text still rules.
My (probably oversimplified) summary of all these numbers: video is fantastic for reach and discoverability, helping you attract new followers and audiences.
Other formats (carousels, images, text) can be better for engagement, deepening connections with your existing audience.
Ultimately, the best content format is the one you can produce consistently — and the one that resonates with your target audience.
