1. The general time slots in Italy
- Lunch break, roughly 12:30-14:00: many people check their phone while eating or right after.
- Late afternoon/end of work, 17:30-19:00: a transition moment when scrolling picks up.
- Evening, 20:00-22:30: the slot with the most free time and attention, often the strongest overall.
- Weekends shift the times: late morning (9:00-11:00) and early afternoon see more traffic than weekdays.
2. Why your own data matters more than this list
These slots are an average across millions of people with different habits. Your specific audience — by age, location, industry — can behave very differently. A restaurant sees peaks close to mealtimes; a B2B business gets more attention during work hours; a brand talking to students moves toward evening and late-night hours.
Every social platform shows you, in your account's stats, when your audience is online. That data, collected over time, is worth more than any general rule read in an article — including this one.
3. The differences between Instagram, TikTok and Threads
- Instagram: the sharpest peaks are often the evening and lunch break, with an audience scrolling during defined breaks.
- TikTok: usage is spread more evenly across the day, with very strong evening peaks even late (after 9pm); the algorithm still keeps proposing videos days after publishing, so the exact time matters less than on other platforms.
- Threads: being more tied to conversation, it also peaks during breaks in the workday, when people quickly check what's being said, not just in the evening.
4. How to test your best times
Post at different times for two or three weeks, keeping track (even just on a spreadsheet) of which slot brought more views, saves or comments in the first few hours. You don't need a different time every day: 2-3 slots to compare against each other are enough.
Watch especially what happens in the first hour after publishing: on almost every platform, a strong start helps later reach, so the right time is the one when your specific audience is actually active, not the one on a generic list.
5. Posting at the right time, without thinking about it every time
Finding the right time is useful, but keeping it updated week after week, across three different platforms, takes time that's often in short supply.
Carosell schedules your content on the calendar and, over time, also learns from when your audience is online and what they save or share, as well as from what you approve or edit. You always stay the last step: nothing gets published without your approval.