Best Time to Post Methodology

TimeToPost publishes best-time-to-post curves from anonymized aggregate data where the sample is large enough. When a platform has not reached the public threshold, the guide is clearly labeled as an editorial baseline and updates as the dataset grows.

Based on 66 posts analyzed across 1 platforms, updated July 21, 2026.

Current Dataset Status

Based on 66 posts analyzed across 1 platforms, updated July 21, 2026.

Best-time-to-post dataset sample sizes by platform
PlatformSource usedPosts analyzedLast updated
InstagramEditorial baseline0 / 50not yet updated from first-party data
TikTokEditorial baseline0 / 50not yet updated from first-party data
X (Twitter)First-party aggregate data66 / 50July 21, 2026
LinkedInEditorial baseline0 / 50not yet updated from first-party data
PinterestEditorial baseline0 / 50not yet updated from first-party data
YouTubeEditorial baseline0 / 50not yet updated from first-party data
FacebookEditorial baseline0 / 50not yet updated from first-party data

How Scores Are Computed

Each eligible post is assigned to its UTC publish hour. We compute a weighted engagement value using likes, comments, shares, and engagement rate, with comments, shares, and engagement rate weighted above likes. For each hour, we average the weighted engagement across posts in that bucket, then normalize the strongest hour to 100. Every other hour is shown as a relative score against that peak.

Sample-Size Rule

A platform needs at least 50 analyzed posts with usable publish-hour data and non-zero engagement signal before TimeToPost labels the public curve as first-party data. Below that line, the page says it is using an editorial baseline. We do not inflate sparse samples into a data claim.

Editorial Fallback

Editorial baselines are platform-specific relative curves built from broad industry posting research and TimeToPost's internal default scheduling logic. They are not presented as first-party data. Once a platform reaches the threshold, the public API switches that platform to aggregate TimeToPost data automatically.

Privacy

The public dataset exposes only aggregate counts, platform-level source flags, and relative hourly scores. It never exposes account names, organization IDs, post content, platform post IDs, or absolute engagement totals.

Update Cadence

The public API is cached for crawler and page-render performance, and the methodology page revalidates daily. Dataset stats report the latest aggregate metric update timestamp available in the public dataset.