A reshare is when someone takes a post you published and passes it on, either into their own story or feed or by sending it to other people. In everyday use reshare, share and repost get used for the same thing, but the platforms' own metrics don't: Instagram counts shares and reposts as two separate numbers, while TikTok and Facebook each report a single share count.
That gap between the word people use and the number the platform reports is where most of the confusion comes from. You see a figure in your insights, you hear someone say they reshared your story, and the two don't seem to line up. This page explains the words, then what each platform calls the count in its own developer documentation, so you can read the number you're looking at.
Reshare, share and repost: the words compared
None of the three platforms uses reshare as the name of a metric in the developer references I checked. It's an everyday word, and people mean slightly different things by it. Here's how the words line up with what each platform counts.
| Platform | What people say | What the platform's own reference calls the count | How it's defined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reshare, share, repost | Two separate metrics: shares and reposts | Shares: number of shares. Reposts: the number of reposts minus the number of deleted reposts | |
| TikTok | Share, reshare, repost | share_count | Number of shares of the video |
| Share, reshare | shares | Number of times the post has been shared |
So if you're comparing your performance across platforms, the word reshare won't help you. You need the platform's own label.
Instagram: shares and reposts are two numbers
This is the one that catches people out. Meta's insights reference for Instagram media lists shares and reposts as separate metrics, and both are available for stories, as well as for reels and feed posts. A share and a repost are counted in different places, so adding them together or treating them as the same figure gives you the wrong picture.
The definition of reposts has a detail worth knowing. Meta defines it as the number of reposts on the media minus the number of deleted reposts. That means your repost count is a net figure. If someone reposts you and later deletes it, the number goes back down. A repost count that drops overnight doesn't mean anything is broken; it means someone took theirs away.
Stories have another metric that sometimes gets mistaken for shares. Navigation is defined as the total number of actions taken from your story, which is about people moving through it, not passing it on. If you're trying to work out how many people reshared a story, navigation isn't the number to look at.
If you want to know who did the sharing rather than how many, how to see who shared your Instagram post explains what Insights shows and what Instagram keeps private.
TikTok: one share count
TikTok's developer video object has a field called share_count, defined as the number of shares of the video. It sits alongside like_count, comment_count and view_count. That object doesn't include a separate repost counter, so if you're pulling TikTok numbers into a report or a dashboard, share_count is the field you'll be working with.
Reposting on TikTok is a feature in its own right, and I've written up how to repost on TikTok separately. If you've seen the phrase shared with you and wondered what it means, what Shared With You means on TikTok explains it.
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Facebook: a share count on each post
Meta's Graph API reference for a Facebook post defines the shares field as the number of times the post has been shared. It's one count, with no separate figure for reposts. When someone says they reshared your Facebook post, this is the number it adds to. If you want the names behind the number, how to check who shared your Facebook post covers what Facebook does and doesn't show you.
How to read the number you see
- Find the platform's own label. On Instagram, check whether you're looking at shares or reposts, because they're different metrics.
- Don't add Instagram shares and reposts together and call the total reshares. They count different actions.
- Expect Instagram reposts to fall sometimes. The count is net of deleted reposts, so it moves both ways.
- Leave navigation out of it. On a story, it counts actions taken from the story, not people passing it on.
- When comparing platforms, compare like with like: Instagram shares, TikTok share_count and Facebook shares are each that platform's share figure, defined in its own words.
I'd treat a reshare as the clearest sign someone wants their own audience to see your post. Likes are a nod; a reshare means they're putting their name next to yours. Skip fretting over exact counts across platforms, since they define shares and reposts differently, and look at the trend on each one instead. If a particular post gets far more shares than your usual, that's the one to learn from and make more of.
Step-by-step guides for sharing and reposting
- How to see reposts on Instagram: your Reposts tab, other profiles and your feed.
- How to repost an Instagram post: the Repost button, sharing to your story, or crediting by hand.
- How to repost a story on Instagram: step by step, and what happens if you skip permission.
- How to undo a repost on Instagram: the Reels repost, a repost to your story or a manual re-up.
- Why you can't share a post to your Instagram story: four reasons and the fix for each.
- Is reposting Reels allowed?: the three ways people repost, and which are safe.
- Share an Instagram story to reach more people: stickers, timing and cross-posting.
- Share your Instagram Reels to Facebook: and why the setting keeps switching itself off.
TikTok
- Does TikTok show who shared your video?: what your analytics reveal about shares instead.
- How to remove a repost on TikTok: find your reposts and undo one in a few taps.
- Why you can't repost on TikTok any more: the five reasons the button vanishes.
Facebook, X and crediting others
- How to share a post on Facebook: to your feed, story, a group, a Page or Messenger.
- How to share a video on Facebook: yours or one from your Feed, step by step.
- How to repost on X: repost, quote, undo, and turn off someone's reposts.
- Repost someone else's story with credit: on Instagram, LinkedIn, X and TikTok, and what credit doesn't cover.
Frequently asked questions
What does reshare mean?
In everyday use, a reshare is when someone passes on a post you published, into their own story or feed or by sending it to other people.
Is a reshare the same as a repost on Instagram?
Not in Instagram's own metrics. Meta's insights reference lists shares and reposts as two separate metrics, for stories, reels and feed posts.
Why did my Instagram repost count go down?
Meta defines reposts as the number of reposts minus the number of deleted reposts, so the count falls when someone deletes a repost of your post.
What does TikTok call reshares?
TikTok's developer video object reports share_count, defined as the number of shares of the video. That object has no separate repost counter.
How does Facebook count shares?
Meta's Graph API defines the shares field on a post as the number of times the post has been shared.
