@dfordavey128 / 365

A retrospective on the first 128 days of posting a new joke every day

The Long View

Total Views
406k
avg 3.2k/post
Total Likes
6,518
avg 51/post
Best Day
#124
60.6k views
Avg Length
18s
per reel
Views ↔ Likes
0.94
pearson r
The five tracks
ViewsLikesEngagementJoke sentimentLength
JANFEBMARAPRMAYVIEWS60.6k13.1kLIKES1,258412ENGAGEMENT7.9%5.6%JOKE SENTIMENT1.000.60LENGTH116s25s↓ 1k↑ 4k↓ 2k↑ 4kDAY 085
DAY 001064128
Cross-track correlations · pearson r
+0.94
Views ↔ Likes
-0.19
Views ↔ Length
-0.18
Views ↔ Joke tone
-0.09
Length ↔ Likes
The 5 eras?
How the content and performance evolved across 128 days
Era 1
20 posts
Days 001–020
Jan 14 – Feb 2
Avg views
2.0k
Avg likes
33
Engagement
3.3%
Avg length
23s
-37% vs overall avg40.4k total views
Top post · Day 006
4.7kJan 19
“Um I think as a man you should avoid going to a female run club. Espec…”
Era 2
51 posts
Days 021–071
Feb 3 – Mar 26
Avg views
2.0k
Avg likes
29
Engagement
3.3%
Avg length
24s
-37% vs overall avg-1% vs prev era102k total views
Top post · Day 068
8.2kMar 23
“Pro tip. You can use AI to get away with crimes. What I've done is I'v…”
Era 3
28 posts
Days 072–099
Mar 27 – Apr 24
Avg views
3.0k
Avg likes
61
Engagement
2.8%
Avg length
23s
-5% vs overall avg+51% vs prev era84.8k total views
Top post · Day 085
13.1kApr 10
“Hugs are good for men. I think I could use more hugs. I got one condit…”
Era 4
12 posts
Days 100–111
Apr 25 – May 6
Avg views
4.2k
Avg likes
53
Engagement
2.4%
Avg length
1s
+33% vs overall avg+40% vs prev era50.9k total views
Top post · Day 105
7.2kApr 30
“Day 105 / 365 - so frazzled today it’s not even funny. Feeling dumb an”
Era 5
16 posts
Days 112–128
May 7 – May 23
Avg views
8.0k
Avg likes
128
Engagement
2.6%
Avg length
0s
+150% vs overall avg+89% vs prev era128k total views
Top post · Day 124
60.6kMay 19
“Day 124 / 365 - a bit from a very real fear, not just about farting in”
Era slopegraph?
Change from Era 1 baseline — all metrics start at zero, slopes show relative improvement or decline
ERA 1ERA 2ERA 3ERA 4ERA 50%+296% Avg Views+292% Avg Likes-22% Engagement-100% Avg Length
Breakthrough posts · peak deviations
Posts that outperformed their local trend by the widest margin
DAYCONTEXT+%VIEWSDURTONEENGCAPTION
124+408%60.6k0s—4.9%“Day 124 / 365 - a bit from a very real fear, not j”
085+227%13.1k25s+0.605.6%“Hugs are good for men. I think I could use more hu…”
112+195%20.0k0s—2.0%“Day 112 / 365 - got pretty close to nailing some j”
064+167%6.9k12s+0.000.9%“You want to hear a joke? Yeah. I got a I got a fro…”
060+138%3.5k21s+0.503.6%“Hey, Stella. Miss Stella, do you want to hear a jo…”
The Calendar

Color the grid by
Low
High
SUN
MON
TUE
WED
THU
FRI
SAT
WK 01
7.3k
11
12
13
14
001
3.0k
15
002
2.9k
16
17
004
1.4k
WK 02
17.5k
18
005
2.1k
19
006
4.7k
20
007
2.9k
21
008
2.0k
22
009
1.2k
23
010
2.4k
24
011
2.2k
WK 03
8.3k
25
012
736
26
27
014
937
28
015
2.0k
29
016
3.1k
30
31
018
1.5k
WK 04
8.5k
1
019
734
2
020
791
3
021
1.5k
4
022
1.3k
5
023
1.8k
6
024
700
7
025
1.7k
WK 05
4.8k
8
026
759
9
027
700
10
028
796
11
029
756
12
13
030
775
14
031
964
WK 06
6.2k
15
032
1.2k
16
034
1.3k
17
18
036
1.7k
19
037
1.2k
20
21
038
778
WK 07
7.0k
22
039
947
23
040
2.1k
24
041
1.2k
25
043
821
26
27
045
2.0k
28
WK 08
6.7k
1
046
729
2
047
819
3
048
1.0k
4
049
1.0k
5
050
1.0k
6
051
1.1k
7
052
1.0k
WK 09
8.0k
8
053
1.1k
9
054
922
10
055
1.3k
11
056
848
12
057
1.3k
13
058
579
14
059
1.9k
WK 10
28.4k
15
060
3.5k
16
061
1.7k
17
062
2.3k
18
063
1.0k
19
064
6.9k
20
065
5.4k
21
066
7.5k
WK 11
33.6k
22
067
2.5k
23
068
8.2k
24
069
6.0k
25
070
6.3k
26
071
5.3k
27
072
4.7k
28
073
688
WK 12
21.1k
29
074
5.0k
30
075
1.4k
31
076
6.9k
1
077
2.3k
2
078
4.5k
3
4
079
989
WK 13
29.9k
5
080
1.7k
6
081
2.3k
7
082
4.2k
8
083
1.5k
9
084
4.2k
10
085
13.1k
11
086
2.8k
WK 14
17.8k
12
087
3.7k
13
088
1.6k
14
089
3.0k
15
090
3.2k
16
091
1.9k
17
092
3.6k
18
093
812
WK 15
13.9k
19
094
2.2k
20
095
662
21
096
3.2k
22
097
797
23
098
2.6k
24
099
1.1k
25
100
3.3k
WK 16
26.5k
26
101
5.4k
27
102
3.5k
28
103
2.6k
29
104
1.5k
30
105
7.2k
1
106
3.5k
2
107
2.9k
WK 17
45.4k
3
108
6.6k
4
109
3.6k
5
110
6.1k
6
111
4.9k
7
112
20.0k
8
113
784
9
114
3.4k
WK 18
22.1k
10
115
4.7k
11
116
5.6k
12
117
2.4k
13
118
4.2k
14
119
937
15
120
4.3k
16
WK 19
81.6k
17
122
4.5k
18
123
6.5k
19
124
60.6k
20
125
3.6k
21
126
1.6k
22
127
3.1k
23
128
1.8k
Average views · by day of the week
2.7k
SUN
2.7k
MON
6.0k
TUE
2.2k
WED
4.0k
THU
3.0k
FRI
2.1k
SAT

Source

  • Instagram Insights · @dfordavey
  • Jan 14 — May 23, 2026
  • 127 reels · 18 weeks

Method

  • Engagement = (likes + comments + saves + shares) ÷ reach
  • Sentiment scored on −1…+1 for caption + transcript
  • Pearson correlations across all 127 posts