Is Facebook the Most Underrated Platform for Caribbean Creators?

The Facebook surprise

When people talk about growing an audience, Instagram and TikTok often dominate the conversation. But among the Caribbean creator accounts tracked by FAMA, Facebook stood out in one important way: it recorded the highest frequency of big weekly follower gains.

We defined a “big-growth week” as gaining at least 5% followers in seven days. That happened in 5.6% of Facebook’s weekly comparisons, versus 1.9% on Instagram, 2.0% on YouTube and 1.3% on TikTok. In other words, big-growth weeks appeared nearly three times as often on Facebook as Instagram.

Figure 1. Percentage of valid weekly comparisons with follower growth of at least 5%.

This does not mean Facebook is the fastest-growing platform for every creator. It means substantial percentage gains showed up more often in the Facebook accounts FAMA observed.

Instagram still leads when it comes to consistent gains

If the question is simply “Which platform most often showed an increase?”, Instagram comes out ahead. Follower counts rose in 60.8% of Instagram’s weekly comparisons, followed by Facebook at 58.2%, TikTok at 47.6% and YouTube at 35.3%.

Figure 2. Share of weekly comparisons with a positive reported follower change.

Put simply: Instagram was more likely to show a gain in a given week. Facebook was more likely to show a particularly large percentage gain. Those are two different measures of growth, and they point to different strengths in the tracked data.

It wasn’t just one or two Facebook accounts

A big question was whether Facebook’s advantage came from a handful of accounts repeatedly posting huge gains. We found that 62 of 363 tracked Facebook accounts—17.1%—had at least one big-growth week. That compares with 8.9% of Instagram accounts, 9.5% of YouTube accounts, and 7.3% of TikTok accounts.

Figure 3. Share of tracked platform accounts that recorded at least one week with 5%+ growth.

Some creators did have repeated breakout weeks: 29 Facebook accounts recorded at least three. And the 10 Facebook accounts with the most breakout weeks contributed 42.7% of all Facebook breakout observations. So growth was not evenly distributed—but it also was not confined to a single viral account.

We also repeated the comparison by giving each account equal weight, rather than allowing accounts tracked for more weeks to count more heavily. Facebook still led: its average account-level big-growth frequency was 5.2%, compared with 2.5% on Instagram, 2.3% on YouTube and 1.6% on TikTok.

Does audience size change the picture?

Yes. Smaller accounts generally had more opportunities to record a 5% jump because the same number of new followers represents a larger percentage of a smaller audience. But Facebook’s advantage did not disappear when we compared accounts of similar size.

Among accounts starting the week with 10,000–49,999 followers, 7.55% of Facebook comparisons reached the 5% growth threshold, versus 1.98% on Instagram. Facebook also led among accounts under 10,000 and those with 50,000–249,999 followers. Among accounts with at least 250,000 followers, Instagram edged ahead on this particular measure (0.81% versus Facebook’s 0.48%).

Figure 4. Share of weekly comparisons reaching 5%+ growth, grouped by starting follower count.

That matters because a platform comparison can be misleading if one platform has many more small accounts than another. The audience-size breakdown makes Facebook’s pattern more interesting, while showing that the story changes at the very largest account sizes.

TikTok and YouTube tell a different story

TikTok recorded follower gains in about 48% of weekly comparisons. But frequency is only part of the story. Among growing accounts starting with 10,000–49,999 followers, the median reported weekly gain was 200 followers on TikTok, compared with 60 on Instagram. This is a comparison of weeks when accounts grew—not an estimate of what a typical TikTok account gains every week.

YouTube had the highest share of weeks with no reported change: 60.6%. That needs careful interpretation. YouTube’s official API reports public subscriber counts rounded down to three significant figures, so a channel can gain subscribers without its reported count moving. We therefore cannot treat every unchanged YouTube week as a week with no actual subscriber growth.

And when larger YouTube channels did register gains, those changes could be substantial. Among growing accounts starting above 250,000 subscribers, the median reported weekly increase was 5,000—although rounding affects how precisely that figure reflects the underlying gain.

What should Caribbean creators and brands take away?

For creators, the lesson is not to abandon Instagram or TikTok. It is to avoid assuming Facebook has little audience-growth potential. If Facebook is missing from your content distribution strategy, the results make a reasonable case for testing it—then judging it against your own audience, content, and goals.

For brands and agencies, these findings are another reminder that creator opportunity is not limited to the platforms receiving the most attention. Growth patterns vary by platform and audience size. A creator’s momentum, relevance, and community may matter more than the platform’s reputation.

There is no single winner here. Instagram led in how consistently accounts showed reported gains. Facebook stood out in how often accounts experienced big percentage jumps. TikTok and YouTube showed different patterns, with important differences in how counts are reported.

So, is Facebook being overlooked?

Our findings suggest Facebook deserves a closer look among Caribbean creators. If Facebook isn’t part of your growth strategy, it might be time to reconsider.

Methodology: FAMA analyzed 24,094 valid seven-day follower comparisons across 2,305 platform accounts on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, with comparison weeks ending June 29 through October 5, 2026. A platform account is not necessarily a unique creator; one creator can appear on multiple platforms. We compared each account’s follower count with its count seven days earlier. A big-growth week meant an increase of at least 5%. Some analyses grouped accounts by their follower count at the start of each week; an additional check weighted each account equally.

These findings describe accounts in FAMA’s expanding tracked roster, not a representative sample of every Caribbean creator. Differences can reflect account size, creator activity, roster composition, and platform reporting precision. They should not be interpreted as proof that a platform’s algorithm causes faster growth.