Joshua McCartney's Instagram Reels, broken down
The 6 best-performing Reels on Joshua McCartney's Instagram, with the opening line, view count and hook pattern behind each one. From a real Scrptly analysis.
What this is
Joshua McCartney has 1,532,216 followers on Instagram, read from the profile on 20 October 2026. Scrptly analysed the 6 best-performing Reels on the account. Every number below is the figure recorded at that moment, not an estimate, and every Reel links out so it can be checked.
6 Reels. 8,534,670 views between them. Posted between 09 Aug 2026 and 26 Oct 2024, running 32 to 74 seconds.
The line on each card is the transcribed opening, verbatim, except where it is marked as an opening shot.
“Hey everyone, I've got a massive update for you. I wrote a book.”
3.8MviewsWatch
“While exploring Google Earth, I found something that shouldn't exist.”
1.7MviewsWatch
“Using satellite imagery, I found what looked like a man-made structure hidden deep in”
1.2MviewsWatch
“I actually can see something just up there.”
1.2MviewsWatch
“I found this strange structure over 10,000 feet above sea level, right on the summit of a snow-capped mountain.”
369KviewsWatch
“Deep in the Amazon, there is an ancient structure that was designed never to be found.”
292KviewsWatch
Four Reels about finding something that should not exist
Joshua McCartney searches satellite imagery and posts what he finds. Four of these six open on a discovery claim: something that shouldn't exist, a man-made structure hidden deep in, a strange structure above 10,000 feet, an ancient structure designed never to be found. The format is a mystery with a verifiable location attached.
The best-performing Reel is not one of them. It is a book announcement, 3.8 million views, opening with the most ordinary sentence available: hey everyone, I've got a massive update for you. The announcement outperforms the mysteries by roughly two to one, and it is the only Reel in the set that is about him.
That is the thing worth taking. The discovery format is what the account is for and what it reliably does, between 292,000 and 1.7 million views. The single piece of personal news beat all of it. An audience built on curiosity about places turns out to be more curious about the person showing them.
The discovery hooks themselves differ in one useful way. The two that name the method, Google Earth and satellite imagery, did 1.7 million and 1.2 million. The two that name only the object did 369,000 and 292,000. Telling the viewer how you found it appears to matter more than telling them what you found.
The hooks on this account
| Hook pattern | What it does | From which Reel |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery with the method named | Say how you found it, not just what it is. The method is what makes it checkable. | While exploring Google Earth, I found something that shouldn't exist, 1.7M views. |
| Ordinary personal announcement | No drama at all. An update stated plainly by someone the audience follows. | I've got a massive update for you, 3.8M views. |
| Inaccessible place | Name a location the viewer cannot go to and an object that should not be there. | Deep in the Amazon, designed never to be found, 292K views. |
What you can copy
- Name your method in the hook. The two Reels here that say Google Earth or satellite imagery did roughly four times the two that only describe the object.
- Do not assume your format is what the audience is there for. A plain personal announcement beat every mystery on this account.
- Keep the claim checkable. Every discovery hook here attaches a real place, which is what separates it from a thumbnail promise.
Questions people ask
How many followers does Joshua McCartney have on Instagram?
1,532,216, read from the profile on 20 October 2026.
What is the most viewed Reel here?
The book announcement, at 3,755,625 views, posted 26 October 2024. It outperforms every discovery Reel in the set.
How long are these Reels?
Between 32 and 74 seconds, median 59.
What is the discovery format?
Open by naming how the thing was found, satellite imagery or Google Earth, then the object, then the location. Four of these six use it.
How were these numbers measured?
Scrptly pulled the account's recent posts and analysed the 6 best-performing Reels. The follower count and every view count is the figure recorded on 20 October 2026. Figures are read once per reel, deduplicated so a reel analysed more than once is counted once, and each Reel links out.
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