Fail After Fail. What Am I Missing?

Probably not the only reason but the fact I could upload a video into an AI app and (no discredit to your work) do exactly the same thing in minutes. Times that by majority of people on socials and the feed becomes flooded with everyone doing the same thing. The fact majority of the shitty ai accounts are posting constantly and churning out just rubbish, that coupled with constant shitty changes to the algorithms have probably it’s your account way out the window.

I think we are limited in what we can do, there is a growing movement of people actively blocking ai accounts, negatively interacting with their posts etc so as that becomes bigger eventually it’ll overtake the ai crap people put out but it’s probably a lot of work for quite a while with not a lot of gain.

the algorithm is basically unrecognizable from what it was in 2019-2022. reels are the only thing instagram pushes now and even then the reach is all over the place

your old follower base being inactive actually hurts you more than having zero followers. the algorithm shows your post to a handful of them, they don't engage because they're ghosts, and then instagram decides the content is dead and stops showing it to anyone else. you might be better off starting a fresh account at this point

tiktok is way more forgiving for new accounts but 14 posts since july isn't enough to get the algorithm to latch onto you. it wants consistency and volume, like 1-2 posts a day minimum. also the multi-fandom animation edit style is a lot more niche now than it was a few years ago, the trends have shifted hard toward capcut templates and quick cuts to trending audio

Seven likes from 119 views is about 6%, so I would not judge the editing by the totals alone. Try a few edits from one active fandom in a row, giving new visitors a clearer reason to follow.

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I've been through a similar reset, and honestly your old followers being inactive is probably hurting you on Instagram more than anything. The algorithm tests each post on a slice of your existing followers first, and if they don't engage, it stops pushing. A few things that worked for me:

1. Treat TikTok and Reels as the discovery channel and judge each video by its first 2 seconds. Open on the most striking transition, not a title card.
2. Post edits of fandoms that are trending right now. Check what's showing up in the search bar suggestions and build around those names.
3. Engage in the community daily for 15 minutes: comment thoughtfully on other editors' posts in your niche. Collabs and remix duets with mid-size editors brought me more followers than any hashtag.
4. Pick 3-4 posting days a week and stick to it for 8 weeks before judging.

I'm Ryan Stevens, I share tips like this as iRuleSocialMedia on Instagram. 11 followers in 2.5 months is a normal restart curve, so don't give up yet.