Shareworthy Content
Shares are the new likes — make posts worthy of being sent from one person to another.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 90%
Shareworthy Content is Brock's answer to how you grow organically: create posts worthy of being sent from one person to another, to a group chat, or reshared to stories. He argues shares are disproportionately the best form of engagement because, unlike likes and comments, they can't be faked — a share is a human-to-human act that delivers a perfectly targeted viewer. When his wife sends him a reel, the algorithm isn't guessing he'll like it; she knows exactly what he needs to see. Because these shared viewers are pre-qualified, share-driven virality produces followers and customers, not just empty view counts. The simple test is: would I share this with a friend?
Origin
Brock arrived at this by observing which of his posts spread — the simple, relatable ones that got forwarded — and by recognizing that shares uniquely resist the bot manipulation that plagues likes and comments.
Core principles
- 01Shares are disproportionately the most valuable form of engagement on Instagram.
- 02A share delivers a pre-qualified, ideal viewer — a human who knows exactly who to send it to.
- 03Shares can't be faked the way likes and comments can be botted.
- 04Viral-via-shares brings targeted viewers who actually convert into followers and customers.
How to run it
- 1
Apply the share test
Before publishing, ask whether a real person would send this post to a friend, a group chat, or their own stories.
Pro tip The blunt version of the test: 'Would I share this with a friend?'
- 2
Favor simple and relatable over polished
Lean into relatable, funny, easy-to-understand posts, which are the ones people actually forward.
Pro tip The highest-effort, most-polished posts are rarely the most shared.
Watch out Overproduced content often gets admired but not sent onward.
- 3
Optimize for shares over likes and comments
Treat shares as your north-star engagement metric because they deliver targeted viewers and can't be faked.
Pro tip 50,000 shared views can bring 2,000 real followers and 100 customers because each was sent to an ideal viewer.
Watch out Chasing likes and comments invites botting and vanity metrics that don't convert.
In the wild
Brock notes that while recording, his wife is likely sending reels his way. She knows exactly what he wants and needs to see, so he's the perfect, pre-qualified viewer for anything she shares — no algorithmic guessing required.
→ Shared content reaches ideal viewers directly, which is why shares convert far better than algorithm-guessed reach.
Common mistakes
Hyperfocusing on likes and comments
These metrics can be botted and don't reflect the targeted, human-to-human distribution that actually grows a business.
Pouring effort into hard-to-share content
The most polished, high-effort posts are rarely the ones people forward; simple relatable content spreads far more.
Is it for you?
Best for
Creators who want views that translate into real followers and customers rather than empty vanity numbers.
Not ideal for
Purely paid-ad-driven distribution strategies where organic sharing isn't the growth engine.
From the transcript
“the best way to create good posts is to create shareworthy posts. And shareworthy posts are simply the posts that are worthy of being sent…”
“Shares are disproportionately the best form of engagement on Instagram.”
From the episode
Brock Johnson: Is Instagram Dead? Unlock the Secret to Explosive Social Media Growth
Brock Johnson