A view is the loosest metric in social media, because every platform defines it differently. Some count the moment a video starts. Some need a few seconds. The number under a video is whichever rule its platform picked, so comparing views across platforms is comparing different units.
Whatever the clock, the public view count is the first quality check every viewer runs. A clip at 200 views reads as ignored. The same clip at 20,000 reads as an event. That judgement happens BEFORE a second of the video plays.
This is the doorway job of the view count, and it's why views are the most-bought metric in the industry: TikTok views, Instagram views, YouTube views, Twitch views and Facebook views all exist to change that first read.
Impressions count displays anywhere, even scrolled past. Views need the content to actually open or play. Reach counts unique people.
So for one reel: reach 3,000 people, impressions 5,000 displays, views 4,200 plays. All three describe the same event from different angles.
A view is the shallowest signal a platform tracks. Ranking systems care what happens AFTER the play starts: watch time, completion, rewatches.
Bought views fix how a video looks to people. They don't carry the watch-behaviour signal that feeds rank on. The honest framing every good provider gives: views open the door, the watching decides the rest.
It depends on the platform: TikTok counts almost instantly, Instagram historically needed about 3 seconds, YouTube validates plays before counting them publicly. There is no universal rule.
Mostly yes. Loops on TikTok and reels add views. YouTube counts repeat views too, within its filtering.
Public counters update on a delay and platforms filter suspected non-genuine plays. Analytics also mix in different clocks (plays vs 3-second views). Small gaps are normal.
Related terms
Every definition lives in the full glossary, and the services behind the vocabulary are on the services page.