Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms, with over 2.9 billion monthly active users as of the fourth quarter of 2022. With so many people using Facebook daily, brands and marketers have focused a lot of effort on optimizing their Facebook content to get more views, comments, shares and engagement.
One common question that arises is whether Facebook counts multiple views from the same person on a particular piece of content. For example, if a user views a Facebook Page’s video 3 times, does each view get counted by Facebook? Or does Facebook only count the first view and ignore subsequent views of the same content by the same user?
Does Facebook Count Multiple Video Views?
When it comes to Facebook video views, the answer is yes – Facebook does count multiple views of the same video from the same user. So if a user watches your Facebook video over and over, each view will be counted in your video view count.
Facebook’s analytics track each video view separately, so repeat views from return viewers are all aggregated into the overall view count. The only exception is if a user watches a video continuously on loop – Facebook’s system is designed to prevent looped views from being counted.
There are a few reasons why Facebook counts multiple video views:
- It encourages users to re-watch and share videos they really enjoy.
- Multiple views may indicate the video is highly engaging and relevant to viewers.
- More views (even by the same users) helps Facebook improve its video recommendation algorithms.
- Higher view counts look better for brands and creators on their Facebook Pages.
So for videos, the total view count displayed reflects the full number of times users have clicked to watch the video – including repeat views by individuals.
Does Facebook Count Multiple Photo Views?
For Facebook photos and image posts, the answer is more nuanced. In most cases, Facebook does not count multiple views of the same image by the same user. If a user views your Facebook photo multiple times, only the first view will be counted towards your total image views.
The rationale is that photos do not require the same active re-viewing that video does. If a user is scrolling through their feed, they may pass over the same image repeatedly without intending to view it multiple times. So to avoid inflating image view counts artificially, Facebook filters out those incidental extra views by the same person.
There are a couple exceptions where Facebook may log additional image views by an individual user:
- If the user actively clicks or taps on the image to view it in full-screen mode, that counts as an additional view.
- If the image appears in the user’s feed again after a significant amount of time has passed, their new view may be counted.
But in general, unique users and not total image views are what count toward your Facebook photo metrics.
Does Facebook Count Multiple Page Post Views?
When it comes to simple text-based posts on Facebook Pages and profiles, the rules are less clearcut. Facebook does not provide as detailed analytics on post reach and views compared to videos and images.
However, most evidence suggests that Facebook does not count multiple Page post views from the same user. If a user revisits your Page and reads a post again that they had already seen, it likely does not get logged as an additional view.
Page admins can see metrics like reach and impressions for posts, but these reflect the number of unique users who have had your post enter their screen – not total views. So repeat post views do not appear to accumulate.
Some reasons why Facebook may ignore multiple Page post views include:
- Prevent inflating post metrics artificially with incidental scroll-bys.
- Focus metrics on reach and unique impressions rather than frequency.
- Text posts have less need to be revisited than richer content.
Ultimately for text-based Page content, the focus is more on getting your posts in front of new audiences rather than driving repeat traffic from the same users.
Does Facebook Prioritize Content With More Views?
One key reason why brands care about Facebook view counts at all is the assumption that more views will lead to greater reach and engagement in the future. More views must mean the content is resonating with audiences and thus will be promoted more by Facebook.
The truth of how Facebook’s feed algorithm works is more nuanced, however. Total view count is just one weak signal among hundreds that Facebook considers when ranking and recommending posts to users. Higher view counts do not guarantee better organic reach.
Some factors that have a stronger influence on Facebook’s algorithm than simple view counts include:
- Recent user engagement levels – likes, comments and shares.
- Click-through-rate on links.
- completion rates for videos.
- Reactions and profiles of users engaging with your content.
- overlaps between audiences interested in your content.
So while high view counts may catch Facebook’s attention a bit, many other factors matter much more for reach and distribution. Having viral content with 1 million views won’t help a brand if their recent posts have poor engagement from target audiences.
In most cases, brands should focus more on producing highly engaging content consistently rather than obsess over view counts. Great content tailored to your audience will lead to both strong response rates and decent view volumes organically.
How to Check Facebook View Counts
For brands and creators wanting to track Facebook view metrics themselves, here are some ways to find view counts for different content types:
Facebook Video Views
Video view counts are displayed directly below the video thumbnail on Facebook videos. The number updates in real-time, so you can keep checking back to see views accumulate.
For more detailed video metrics, go to Facebook Insights and look under the “Videos” tab. Here you’ll see views, 10-second views, minutes viewed and more for all your Page videos.
Facebook Photo Views
Unfortunately Facebook does not display photo view counts publicly on image posts. The only way to check Facebook photo views is through Insights.
Go to the “Photos” section of Facebook Insights to get view counts on both individual images and albums. You can also see metrics like comments and shares for your photos.
Facebook Post Views
Regular post reach is shown below each post on Facebook Pages. But this reach reflects how many unique users the post entered the screen of, not total views.
To get metrics like post impressions and reach, check Insights and filter by “Posts”. This will show aggregated metrics on impressions and reach for your Page over time.
Tips to Get More Facebook Content Views
While Facebook view counts should not become an unhealthy obsession, it is still a baseline metric of content performance on Facebook. Here are some tips to help your videos, images and posts earn more views:
- Create eye-catching thumbnails and preview images that make people want to click.
- Use attention-grabbing headers and introductions in posts to get clicks.
- Target high-intent audiences who are actively looking for your content.
- Promote new posts through Facebook Ads to boost initial views.
- Post at optimal high-traffic times based on your audience’s habits.
- Include links back to your website so people can dive deeper.
Conclusion
In summary, Facebook does treat multiple views differently depending on content type:
- Facebook counts all video views from the same user.
- Facebook excludes most photo re-views by the same user.
- Text-based post views may or may not be counted multiple times.
Having viral content with sky-high view counts does not guarantee better reach. Focus on engaging target audiences and optimizing for behaviors beyond views to succeed with Facebook marketing.