TikTok Trends February 2026
Hi hi
Every week I talk to creators who feel like this:
“I am posting but my reach is weird.”
“Reels used to pop off and now they don’t.”
“Should I even bother with regular posts?”
So instead of vibes and opinions, let’s use real numbers.
Metricool just analyzed over 21 million posts and 1.3 million accounts across platforms to see what actually worked. And Instagram had some VERY interesting shifts.
Here is what this means for small mom creators trying to grow.
Carousel posts are quietly getting stronger
Instagram post reach went up 21% vs last year.
Yes, plain old feed posts.
This lines up with what we are seeing inside creator accounts. Carousels are doing heavy lifting. More saves. More comments. More people actually stopping to read.
Instagram also expanded carousels so you can include more images or videos in one post, which has helped drive more interactions and reach on posts overall.
For mom creators this is gold.
Because carousels are PERFECT for:
step by step routines
product comparisons
“real life vs expectation”
story based posts about your day, your kid, your experience
Not everything has to be a video to grow.
Reels are still big, but not as easy as before
Here is the plot twist.
Reels reach on Instagram dropped 20% year over year 2025-Social-Media-Study-Metrico….
That does not mean stop making Reels. It means the bar is higher. More competition. More content. More people copying trends.
The report also shows that in absolute numbers Reels still pull more views and interactions than posts on average. So Reels are still powerful. They just are not the automatic growth hack they once were.
For small creators, this means:
Reels need a hook. A clear idea. A point. Not just you lip syncing while making dinner.
Think:
“3 things no one told me about toddler sleep”
“I thought this mom hack was dumb until I tried it”
“What I feed my kid when I am too tired to cook”
Reels = attention.
Posts = depth and connection.
You need both.
Engagement is the real growth engine
High engagement tells the platform your content is worth showing to more people.
Translation in human terms:
If people do not interact, your reach eventually stalls.
For mom creators, engagement usually spikes when content is:
relatable
emotional
practical
or invites a response
Not just “Here is my outfit.”
More like “Tell me your kid’s weirdest bedtime habit.”
Growth right now is less about being polished and more about being connectable.
Instagram alone is harder for brand new accounts
One of the big takeaways from the study is that some platforms give smaller accounts more visibility per follower than others. Instagram posts specifically show lower scalability compared to platforms like YouTube and TikTok when starting from scratch 2025-Social-Media-Study-Metrico….
That does NOT mean Instagram is dead.
It means:
If you are under a few thousand followers, pairing Instagram with another discovery platform like TikTok can help you get new eyeballs faster, then bring those people back to your Instagram where deeper connection happens.
Instagram is where community grows. Other platforms can help you get found.
PUT THIS INTO ACTION? Let’s go!
Here are three simple moves based on this data.
Post one carousel that actually teaches or tells a story
Not just photos, add text on top natively in the app. Try:
“5 things that saved my mornings with kids”
“Before kids vs after kids energy levels”
Make it saveable.
Make one Reel with a strong hook in the first 2 seconds
Open with: “I did not believe this would work but…”
or “If you have a toddler, listen to this.”
No slow intro. No aesthetic pouring coffee shots.
Make one reel that ends on a cliffhanger
Start telling your story,
but don’t complete It.
It’s a typical tactic you know from you favorite Netflix shows, right?
Make people run SCREAMING to the comments… WAIT WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?!
Because interaction is what tells Instagram to keep showing your stuff.
The big picture:
Instagram is not just about going viral.
It is about stacking attention with Reels, and building real connection with carousels.
And creators who understand both sides are the ones growing right now.
XO,
Lindsay
Social Trends of the Week
Breaking The 4th Wall
So, this trend has been making the rounds on the FYP for a while now, and It’s still super funny. It’s a classic case of "better late than never" if you haven't tried it yet, mostly because it’s so simple to pull off but gets people every single time.
The video starts out looking like a standard reaction or "storytime" clip. You see the creator squeezed into the corner of the frame, looking exactly like they’re using the green screen filter to talk over a video playing behind them.
Because we’ve seen a million "stitch" videos, our brains just assume they aren't actually in the room with whatever is happening in the background.
The magic happens when the "background" suddenly becomes the "foreground."
Someone might walk over and hand the creator a drink.
The creator might reach back and grab something out of the background.
The second that interaction happens, the illusion breaks. You realize they were just standing in a kitchen or a living room the whole time, just framed really specifically to trick your eyes.
You don't need any actual editing skills or green screen apps for this. It’s all about:
The Angle: Set your phone up so there’s a lot of depth in the room.
The Framing: Sit close to the camera in the bottom left or right corner.
The Acting: Act like you’re watching a video for the first few seconds. Don't look at the person behind you until the "reveal" happens.
It's a simple way to make people laugh. It plays on how much we’ve been conditioned to watch social media in a certain way, and it’s always satisfying to see that fourth wall get broken.
Examples: Green screen, Fitness reaction, Doc's office, People just don't wanna work, Who does this,
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