iuliacodau/social-media-optimisation

Social media optimisation (Instagram first)

A pre-publish review of packaging: how the finished or nearly finished piece will be seen, judged and recommended on Instagram. It does not rewrite the story or restyle the design; it finds what blocks or weakens the piece and hands the rest to the right skill.

Scope

Covers: eligibility blockers, first seconds (Reels), first slide and cover (carousels, posts), profile-grid crop, sound-off and small-screen clarity, length, caption, hashtags.

Hands off to: storytelling (hook content, structure, payoff), scriptwriting, cinematography (shots, framing), color-grading, typography, color-palettes, captions (burned-in caption style and timing).

Not covered yet: posting times or frequency, Stories, reading analytics or retention graphs, collabs, paid promotion, other platforms.

Process

1. Identify the format and goal. Reel, feed post (single image) or carousel. Also what you were given (script, beat map, video, cover, caption) and the goal (reach new people, serve followers, or both). Ask at most one question, and only if the format is unclear.
2. Load the references for that format: references/platforms/instagram/<format>.md and references/platforms/instagram/shared.md. Note each fact's confidence label and the file's last-verified date.
3. Verify before quoting. For any fact labelled Reported or Unverified, or if the file was verified more than about 90 days ago, check Instagram's own pages (help.instagram.com, creators.instagram.com, about.instagram.com) with web search. If you cannot confirm it, tell the user to check in the app and do not state it as fact. Offer to update the reference file.
4. Run the format checklist. Mark each item Pass, Fix or Verify.
5. Prioritise: (1) recommendation blockers, (2) first seconds or first slide and cover, (3) clarity without sound and on a small screen, (4) caption and hashtags, (5) polish.
6. Report in the format below. Give concrete rewrites (cover text direction, first caption line, how to deliver the hook on screen), not general advice.
7. Hand off anything outside scope to the matching skill.

Report format

Format and goal: ...
Blockers: ...
Fixes, in priority order: 1) ... 2) ...
Verify in the app: ...
Passed: ...
Handoffs: ...

Rules

• Label confidence. Official (read on an Instagram page), Official reported (an Instagram statement relayed by the press), Reported (several third-party sources agree), Unverified (one source or conflicting sources).
• Never promise reach, views or follower growth. Recommendation eligibility does not guarantee recommendation.
• No clickbait or engagement bait. Instagram lists content users broadly dislike, such as clickbait or engagement bait, among content it avoids recommending. A hook must be something the video delivers. Use at most one honest, specific call to action.
• Flag originality. If footage or images are not the user's own, say so: Instagram avoids recommending content that is largely repurposed without material changes.
• Do not bend the story to the algorithm. If a fix would hurt the story, say so and let the user decide.
• Keep platform facts in the references only. Do not repeat numbers in other skills, so there is one place to update.

Sources, with official links and known conflicts, are in references/sources.md.