Social media influencer Zara Dar, a former advocate for women in science and technology who has quit her PhD pursuit to become an OnlyFans model, has come up with a new social media experiment. Dar conducted a test she's calling the "tank-top effect", and the results are shedding new light on the unpredictable world of online algorithms.
In a recent post, Dar shared her findings from a simple, yet insightful, A/B test (split testing). She created two identical short videos, the only difference being her attire: in one, she wore a standard top, and in the other, a tank top. While acknowledging that more testing is needed to draw broad conclusions, the initial results were striking.
The video featuring the tank top saw a significant increase in engagement on two major platforms. On Instagram, views jumped by up to 28%, and on X (formerly Twitter), views more than doubled. However, the same video performed poorly on YouTube, where it saw a reduction in views.
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Dar, a PhD dropout who now works as an independent researcher and content creator, commented on the unexpected outcome. The differing results across platforms suggest that each algorithm has its own unique, and often unclear, set of rules for content promotion.
The "tank-top effect" highlights the ongoing challenge creators face in understanding and navigating the complex landscape of social media algorithms. While some platforms may favour certain types of visual content, others seem to penalise them; this shows that there is no one-size-fits-all strategy for online pageview success.
