There’s a weird thing that happens sometimes when you post on social media: you throw something up for fun with no big production, no months-long content calendar, and it works better than anything you’ve carefully planned.

That’s what happened with my Sopranos-style Instagram Reel. Instead of Tony driving through New Jersey, it was me driving around Glenside, Pennsylvania, hitting the landmarks that matter to me: the shops, the restaurants, the old bridges with murals, even a donut from Daryl’s Pastries. The whole thing had similar grit, improper lighting, and jerky camera work as the original intro. But, opposed to driving a top tier modern SUV, I was driving a 2007 clunker. And instead of coming home to a McMansion for the finale, I end up at jaded at GIANT (once again) to buy mundane staples.

I figured the Reel might get 20 likes.

Instead, it arrived at:

178k+ views6,155 likes7,309 shares300 comments

Throughout, it kept a steady rate of producing 115 to 125% more shares than likes. In the social media world, that’s like a solar eclipse. It’s rare. In most posts, shares are a fraction of likes. In fact, it’s so unusual that marketers tend to study it the way birdwatchers get excited over a rare warbler sighting.

So why did it take off? A few working theories.1. A recognizable format with a twist

The Sopranos intro is instantly familiar. You don’t need to explain it. You just recreate it and people get it in the first two seconds. Add a local twist, and suddenly you’re talking to two audiences at once: fans of the show and people with a connection to Glenside.

2. Local details that hit the nostalgia button

This wasn’t just a list of businesses. It had telephone poles with decades of character, cracked concrete bridges painted over with murals, and storefronts that haven’t changed in years. That’s the stuff that sends former residents, even the ones who live in Florida now, into the comments to say it made them homesick.

3. Cross-generational appeal

Here’s the thing: The Sopranos is old enough now that it has two lives. Older viewers remember watching it when it aired. Younger viewers are discovering it on streaming and treating it like retro-cool. That’s possibly why this Reel connected with people in their 20s… and people in their 80s.

4. Perfect timing without trying

I posted it on Saturday morning, July 5th, the day after the Fourth of July. Almost everyone was off work. People were scrolling, possibly hungover and still smelling like fireworks. And I happened to be wearing a Phillies hat with the American flag inside the “P.” Was that planned? No. Did it make it feel seasonally relevant? Absolutely.

5. The “you forgot my spot” phenomenon

Some people pointed out I didn’t include their favorite local attraction. In a 60-second video, you can’t get to everything. But that reaction is actually a win. It means people care enough to want their spot in the spotlight. It also means Part 2 is practically writing itself.

Why more shares than likes matters

Shares are the ultimate “you have to see this” metric. A like is a polite nod; a share is someone walking across the room and saying, “Stop what you’re doing, watch this.” When shares outpace likes, it’s a strong signal you’ve hit something culturally resonant.

For this Reel, shares beat likes by 20%. I rarely see that, and I work in digital marketing for a living. When it does happen, it’s usually because the content triggers identity (“this is so us”), inside jokes, or hometown pride. This one seemed to have all three.

The marketing takeawaysLeverage formats people already know. If they recognize it instantly, they’ll stick around.Get hyper-specific with details. The texture of a telephone pole can mean more than a skyline shot.Post in low-noise windows. Holiday weekends, early mornings — times when people have time to scroll.Don’t fear omissions. The comments section can become your idea bank for sequels.Measure shares as a top metric. They tell you how far your content travels beyond your own audience.

The next Reel in this series is already underway. I’ll probably get a mix of nostalgia, mild outrage, and “you forgot my place” comments again. But I don’t think it will produce even an eighth of this engagement. But if I can get people to argue about which coffee shop belongs in a Sopranos parody, we’ll see.

Update: One last thing to point out is that platform culture and audience context matter just as much as content. This same Instagram video was posted just minutes apart from TikTok where it hardly performed at all, earning just 30 likes, 1 comment, and 581 views.

The same content that goes viral on one platform can clearly fizzle on another, not because it’s bad, but because the platform’s culture, algorithm, and audience context are completely different. TikTok didn’t have the hyper-local seed audience to get my Sopranos parody going, and the algorithm didn’t know who to show it to. On Instagram, my core community made it fly.

The post When Shares Outrun Likes: The Anatomy of a One-Minute Viral Reel appeared first on Carl Franke.