[FAQ]

I’m seeing a lot of conflicting advice on this and would love to get some real-world input from this community. Some major accounts are basically writing full blog posts in their captions, while others stick to one or two punchy sentences.

For those who have tested this, is writing long-form, valuable captions actually worth the time investment? Does it genuinely lead to better engagement, saves, and reach? Or do you find that most people just scroll past a giant wall of text? I’m trying to figure out if it’s a valuable strategy or just a waste of effort for most accounts.

[Jeff Bullas]

This is a critical question for any content strategy.

Short Answer: Yes, long captions are extremely good for engagement, provided the text is high-value and the first line is strong enough to make users stop scrolling and read.

You have to remember that a key metric for the algorithm is time spent on post, and a compelling text-based narrative is one of the best ways to increase that dwell time.

The myth that users have short attention spans is only half-true; they have short attention spans for low-value content. If you provide a story, a tutorial, or valuable insights in your caption, people will stay to read it. The most important part of your text is the first line, as this is all a user sees before they have to tap ‘more’. That line must act as a powerful hook that creates curiosity. The purpose of the long caption is to provide context and value that the image or video cannot deliver on its own. It’s not about length for length’s sake; it’s about using the space to build a deeper connection or to educate your audience. Of course, this strategy must match the content; a simple, beautiful photo might be undercut by a long caption, but a post explaining a complex idea requires it.

Cheers,

Jeff

[Author]

Posts