What Is the Virality Score?
Archive's Virality Score predicts how many views a post may eventually reach and how quickly, based on its current engagement data. It's designed to help you identify fast-growing content early.
The score applies to eligible short-form video posts in Archive.
Note: The Virality Score is calculated for eligible posts, but it may not be visible in your account depending on your plan. If you don't see virality data in your library, contact your Customer Success Manager or Archive Support to learn more about availability.
The Four Tiers
Tier | What it means |
High | Strong momentum and a high likelihood of continued growth. |
Medium | Growing momentum. The post is accelerating. |
Low | Early or limited momentum. |
Not Viral | Not enough momentum detected at this time. |
How the Score Works
The score uses current engagement and how that engagement changes over time. A post with fewer total views but rapid growth can still receive a stronger score because momentum matters alongside volume.
If a post initially looks viral but slows down, its score can drop. Posts that continue accelerating can move into a higher tier as Archive collects new engagement snapshots.
When Is the Score First Available?
For posts on Archive's standard adaptive refresh schedule, the first score is available after Archive detects the post, not a fixed amount of time after it was published. For a post Archive detects soon after it goes live, those moments may be close together. For a post Archive discovers later, the clock starts at detection.
How soon the first automatic check happens depends on how old the post was when Archive detected it:
Published within the last 2 days: the first check is scheduled about 2 hours after detection.
Published 2–7 days ago: the first check is scheduled about 1 day after detection.
Published more than 7 days ago: no automatic checks are scheduled.
YouTube and Stories follow the platform-specific schedules described below.
How Often Is the Score Updated?
The score is recalculated whenever Archive collects a new engagement snapshot. Rather than following one fixed timetable, Archive uses an adaptive schedule that responds to how much a post is still growing.
Here's how it works:
For a recent post on the standard schedule, the first check happens about 2 hours after Archive detects it. For a post that was already 2–7 days old, the first check happens about 1 day after detection.
On each check, Archive compares the post's current likes, comments, views, shares, and plays with the previous snapshot.
If the post is still gaining significant engagement, Archive keeps the current cadence.
As growth slows, Archive spaces checks out. The gap roughly doubles while a post is still gaining moderately and widens faster when a post has gone quiet.
Once a post has clearly gone quiet, Archive stops checking it automatically.
In short, a post that keeps climbing stays on a faster schedule, while a post that goes quiet is checked less and less. Actual engagement growth—not the Virality Score label—determines how often Archive checks the post.
The adaptive refresh cadence applies to supported post types that have engagement to track, including Instagram Feed posts, photos, carousels, Reels, and TikTok videos. Photos and carousels can be refreshed using their available engagement signals, but they don't receive a Virality Score.
Platform-specific exceptions:
YouTube: follows a fixed weekly cadence rather than the adaptive schedule.
Instagram Stories: aren't refreshed on this schedule.
TikTok Stories: are refreshed around 4, 12, and 23 hours after publication, then stop when the Story expires.
What If a Post Takes Off Again Later?
If a post re-accelerates while it is still on a refresh schedule, Archive can tighten the cadence again. Archive detects that renewed growth by comparing two consecutive engagement snapshots.
Once Archive has stopped checking a post, there is no new snapshot to compare, so a later spike won't be detected automatically. For those posts, use Refresh Metrics.
What the Refresh Metrics Button Does
You can request an update from the post's Refresh Metrics button. To update multiple eligible campaign posts, use Refresh Metrics from the campaign's bulk actions.
A manual refresh pulls the latest available numbers and puts the post back on the adaptive schedule. Archive evaluates the post's growth from the new snapshot and calculates the next automatic check. For an older post that had stopped updating, this means a manual refresh isn't only a one-time update—it restarts automatic checks.
If the post remains quiet, the checks will space out and eventually stop again.
New Posts vs. Older Posts
For posts using the adaptive schedule, behavior depends on how old the post was when Archive detected it.
Detected Within 2 Days of Publication
Archive schedules the first check about 2 hours after detection, then adjusts the cadence based on how the post grows.
Example: A Reel posted yesterday and detected today gets its first scheduled check about 2 hours after Archive detects it, then continues to be checked while it is gaining engagement.
Detected 2–7 Days After Publication
Archive uses the same adaptive logic, but schedules the first check about 1 day after detection.
Detected More Than 7 Days After Publication
Archive keeps the engagement figures that arrive with the post when it is ingested and schedules no automatic checks.
Those metrics are a snapshot rather than live data. They won't update automatically, even if the post takes off later, because Archive is no longer collecting snapshots for comparison. Use Refresh Metrics to update the figures and put the post back on the adaptive schedule.
Example: A post published in February is first detected by Archive in March. Because it was already more than 7 days old at detection, Archive keeps the engagement figures received at ingestion and schedules no further automatic checks. If the platform's numbers continue growing, Archive's snapshot may be lower until someone uses Refresh Metrics.
Why Does Archive Show Different Numbers Than the Platform?
Archive's numbers may differ from the platform when:
An older post was recently detected: if it was already more than 7 days old, Archive keeps the ingestion snapshot and schedules no automatic checks.
A post's refresh schedule ended: once a post has stayed quiet long enough, Archive stops checking it and keeps the last known figures. A later spike won't be detected automatically.
A post grew gradually over a long period: the post may have appeared quiet during consecutive checks and reached the end of its schedule before the larger numbers arrived.
To get the latest available numbers, use Refresh Metrics. This updates the figures and restarts the automatic schedule from that point.
What the Score Doesn't Cover
Content not yet in Archive: Archive can only calculate a score after a post has been ingested.
Undetected viral moments: Archive can't score content it hasn't detected.
Photos and carousels: these posts can still receive engagement updates, but they don't receive a Virality Score.