Outlier of the Week: “I don’t think mom is coming back” (16.3×)

This week’s biggest outlier is a story carousel by @jun_yuh that got 102,170 likes and comments, 16.3× the creator’s usual. Its first slide is just two lines of dialogue: “i know” “i don’t think mom is coming back”.

It was posted on 5 October and sits in the psychology niche, which had five of this week’s twelve top outliers.

The numbers

• Score: 16.3× the creator’s usual.
• Likes + comments: 102,170.
• The creator’s usual: about 6,270 likes and comments (102,170 ÷ 16.3).
• Slides: 11.
• Format and niche: story, psychology.

That gap is the point. On the creator’s own account, this post did more than sixteen times what a typical carousel there gets, so the result says something about the post, not the size of the audience. If the score is new to you, here is how an outlier is worked out.

What does the first slide say?

“i know” “i don’t think mom is coming back” — @jun_yuh, 16.3×

There is no promise, no number and no “here’s how”. It is a fragment of a conversation, and the reader has to swipe to find out who is speaking and what happened.

In our 10 hook patterns, it sits closest to the comeback: quoting what someone says to make a tiny story in one slide. It is a variation, though. A comeback usually answers the quote; this one leaves it hanging. It is also not the first time this pattern has worked on this account: “‘you’re too talkative’ great, i’ll start a podcast” scored 4.1× for the same account.

Why did this carousel work?

We can’t see inside anyone’s audience, so this is a reading of the evidence, not a certainty. Here is what the data shows, and what it doesn’t.

The hook has the features that do best. In our sample of 5,099 transcribed first slides, hooks of 6–10 words reached 2× their creator’s usual 25.4% of the time, against 20.0% for five words or fewer. This one is nine words. It is also a statement in normal case: 49.4% of normal-case first slides beat their creator’s usual, against 45.4% of mostly-capitals ones.

It has no number, and that didn’t stop it. First slides with a number reached 2× slightly more often (24.7% against 21.3%). This post is a reminder that the averages are small nudges, not requirements.

The slide count is in the strongest band. Across 9,554 scored carousels, those with 11–15 slides reached 2× their creator’s usual 27.9% of the time, the highest of any slide band (the overall rate is 24.1%). At 11 slides it is longer than the median psychology carousel in the library (8 slides) and close to the median for story carousels (10).

The format isn’t the explanation. Story carousels reached 2× their creator’s usual 22.2% of the time, a little below average. Psychology, at 23.2%, is close to average too. So neither the niche nor the format makes a post like this likely on its own. The evidence points to the hook and the idea instead.

One caveat applies to all of these figures: they are base rates across a mix of creators we track, and a correlation is not a cause. Carousels with 11–15 slides reach 2× more often; that doesn’t mean adding slides will.

How to use it in your own niche

You don’t need a sad story to borrow this structure. You need a moment that starts in the middle. Here is how to remix it, following the same process as Artem’s remix case study.

1. Pick a real moment from your world and open on its dialogue. A client’s first message, a line from a manager, something a friend said. Write it as two short quoted lines with no explanation, in normal case, under ten words.
2. Let the slides that follow tell what happened, one beat per slide. The first slide raises a question; each next slide should answer a little of it and raise the next. Story carousels in the library have a median of 10 slides, so give the story room.
3. End on what it taught you, in one line. The caption, “make the best out of every situation❤️”, is a single sentence. Your last slide can be the same: the lesson, without a list of tips attached.

Keep the structure and replace everything else: your story, your words, your visuals. Don’t reuse the creator’s slides or story.

For more first slides from this niche, browse psychology carousel ideas.

Frequently asked questions

What was the top Instagram carousel outlier this week?

A story carousel by @jun_yuh, posted on 5 October, which got 102,170 likes and comments. That is 16.3× the creator’s usual of about 6,270, the highest score of any carousel posted in the last seven days in our library.

Do story carousels perform better than other formats?

Not on average. In our sample of 9,554 scored carousels, story carousels reached 2× their creator’s usual 22.2% of the time, slightly below the overall 24.1%. This outlier stands out because of its hook and idea, not its format.

Can a carousel hook work without a number or a promise?

Yes. First slides with a number reached 2× a little more often in our data (24.7% against 21.3%), but this week’s top outlier has neither a number nor a promise. Two lines of dialogue were enough to make people swipe.