If there’s one platform where it seems like the best time to post seems like 24/7 it’s Twitter (now known as X). With 619 million monthly active users worldwide and 55% of X users on the platform daily, conversations are not slowing down.

Businesses see the value of X in terms of staying close to emerging topics, trends and sentiments from global audiences. And now, more than ever, marketers understand the importance of staying close to the conversations and brand sentiment. And as a platform for conversations and customer care, it’s important to understand how to use X for business in a meaningful way.

Learn how to identify your best times to post globally on Twitter a free trial of Sprout Social and test our ViralPost® feature with your profiles.

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Disclaimer: Data from Sprout Social include users from various plan types, industries and locations. All time frames are recorded globally (not by Central Time), meaning you should be able to publish with the times provided in any timezone and see positive engagement results. Number of engagements represents total engagements a brand received on the specific channel during that hour time frame. Industry-specific data includes mid- to high-level engagement times. We recommend testing with your own accounts to find the most optimal send times.

When is the best time to post on Twitter (X)?

  • Mondays from 10 a.m. to noon
  • Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
  • Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
  • Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
  • Fridays from 10 a.m. to noon
  • Best days to post on X (Twitter): Tuesdays through Thursdays
  • Worst days to post on X (Twitter): Sundays
Based on data from Sprout Social, a data heat map show shows the best times to post on X (Twitter) globally in 2024.

X (formerly known as Twitter) has consistently been the platform for up-to-the-minute conversations and breaking news. And that didn’t stop X from being part of the news itself on the network last year. Businesses and brands continuously look to X to participate in trending topics that align with their brand values in the process. However, due to global conflicts and vocal executives, some brands have limited their social strategies around X.

Despite all this, X peak times for engagement extended slightly compared to last year, with hours extending further into the weekday afternoons. The best times to post on Twitter are Mondays through Fridays beginning at 9 a.m. and extending until nearly 3 p.m.

This extension of engagement on X could reflect an interest in developing news and updates as the day unfolds, as well as a desire for entertainment. There were also several global events that kept users engaged on the app last year. Brands also use X as part of their customer service strategy, as an alternative to traditional customer support options.

When is the best day and time to post on Twitter (X)?

We know the best time to post on X overall, but what about for each day of the week?

  • Mondays between 9 a.m. and noon

  • Tuesdays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

  • Wednesdays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

  • Thursdays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

  • Fridays between 10 a.m. and noon

  • Saturdays between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.

  • Sundays between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

If you’re looking for the best day and time to post on X, read the analysis below.

Best time to post on Twitter (X) on Monday

Every day of the week starting from 8 a.m. until about 7 p.m. sees average engagement on X. However, on Mondays, specifically, we saw a few hours in the morning as the highest engagement. The best time to post on X on Monday is between 9 a.m. to noon.

Best time to post on Twitter (X) on Tuesday

Tuesdays see 3x the amount of highest engagement than Mondays that spans through the morning to early afternoon. The hours that are the best times to post on X on Tuesdays are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Best time to post on Twitter (X) on Wednesday

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays see the highest engagement periods than any other day of the week. However, average engagement periods extend further into the evenings on Wednesdays. The best times to post on X on Wednesdays are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Best time to post on Twitter (X) on Thursday

Similar to Wednesdays, the best times to post on X on Thursdays are from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Best time to post on Twitter (X) on Friday

Surprisingly, Fridays and Mondays see identical peak engagement hours. Above average engagement starts at 9 a.m. and ends around 3 p.m. However, the hours that are the best times to post on X on Fridays are 10 a.m. to noon.

Best time to post on Twitter (X) on Saturday

Generally speaking, we’ve noticed that Saturdays and Sundays have less engagement during the reset of the week across most social platforms. Even with X, you’ll still see light to average engagement on the app. With that in mind, the best time to post on X on Saturdays is 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., in relation to the rest of the day.

Best time to post on Twitter (X) on Sunday

Similar to Saturdays, we’ve noticed Sundays have less engagement throughout the day across most, if not all, social platforms. In relation to the day itself, the best time to post on X on Sundays is between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. for average engagement.

When is the best time to post on Twitter (X) in the UK?

The best time to post on Twitter (X) in the UK is Tuesday to Thursday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. or Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays 10 a.m. to noon. In-line with other social media platforms we see less engagement on Sundays. Known as the place to go for live conversations and developing news, the platform itself hit the headlines last year as it rebranded to X. Despite the change, X/Twitter has retained its UK audience of 18 million. However, the frequency of platform use has decreased slightly. In 2022 11% of X/Twitter users checked in multiple times per day, in 2023 this fell to 9%. If your audience is active on X, it is worth considering your industry and content as well as the best time to post when scheduling your content.

What are the best times to post on Twitter (X) by industry?

There’s no definitive answer to what the best times to post on X are, and we can only offer insight with the data we have. Industry is just one factor that plays into the success of your social posts. Consider as well as your target audience, business goals and the content itself.

Use this industry-level data to help inform your publishing calendar, and test your optimal send times with social experiments.

Best times to post on Twitter (X) for hospitals & healthcare

Based on data from Sprout Social, a data heat map show shows the best times to post on X (Twitter) for the hospital & healthcare industry in 2024.
  • Best times to post on Twitter for Hospitals & Healthcare:
    • Mondays at 11 a.m.
    • Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.
    • Thursdays from 10 a.m. to noon
  • Best days to post on Twitter for Hospitals & Healthcare:
    • Wednesdays and Thursdays
  • Worst days to post on Twitter for Hospitals & Healthcare:
    • Sundays

Hospitals, clinics and healthcare providers use social media for more than navigating healthcare crises. Social media is used by hospitals and healthcare providers to educate the public, help patients feel more comfortable with healthcare visits and doctors’ appointments, promote their programs for aspiring physicians and establish themselves as pillars in the community.

The best times to post on X for healthcare and hospitals saw a shift in hours that users are engaging with their content. Hospitals, healthcare and clinics see average to above average engagement every day starting at 9 a.m. through most of the workday until 5 p.m. However, the best times to post on X for hospitals and healthcare are predominantly Mondays at 11 a.m., and Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. until about 1 p.m. For more specific time frames, see the table above.

Hospital and healthcare social media resources

Best times to post on Twitter (X) for restaurants

Based on data from Sprout Social, a data heat map show shows the best times to post on X (Twitter) for the food & beverage industry in 2024.
  • Best times to post on Twitter for Restaurants:
    • Wednesdays from noon to 3 p.m.
    • Thursdays at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
  • Best days to post on Twitter for Restaurants: Wednesdays and Thursdays
  • Worst days to post on Twitter for Restaurants: Sundays

Online orders and delivery service apps saw an increase in use over the last few years, innovating the way restaurants interact with their audiences. And restaurants saw over 2x more engagements on X than last year’s analysis. Target audience and platform goals factor into how businesses connect with their customers, such as offering unique promotions or updates.

Those in the food and beverage restaurant industry see most of their engagement concentrated to the lunch hour during weekdays. The best times to post for restaurants on X are generally Wednesdays and Thursdays between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Restaurant social media resources

Best times to post on Twitter (X) for schools & education

Based on data from Sprout Social, a data heat map show shows the best times to post on X (Twitter) for the schools & education industry in 2024.
  • Best times to post on Twitter for Schools & Education:
    • Saturdays from 1 to 8 p.m.
  • Best days to post on Twitter for Schools & Education: Saturdays
  • Worst days to post on Twitter for Schools & Education: Fridays

Universities, higher education institutions and schools saw a significant increase in high engagement times on X compared to last year’s analysis. Keep in mind that some schools manage multiple social profiles (per college, athletics, etc.) to meet these needs and effectively target distinct audiences at the right time. 

High opportunities for engagement for schools shifted to slightly later in the day than the year prior, where engagement began as early as 5 a.m. Now, above average engagement to posts begin more around 11 a.m. on weekdays. However, the hours with the highest engagement and therefore the best time to post on X for schools are Saturdays from 1 to 8 p.m.

From highlighting student life to sharing school updates, a social media strategy for schools needs to fulfill various purposes: from engaging with students past, present and future, to keeping a pulse on brand health.

Schools and education social media resources

Best times to post on Twitter (X) for travel & hospitality

Based on data from Sprout Social, a data heat map show shows the best times to post on X (Twitter) for the travel & hospitality industry in 2024.
  • Best times to post on Twitter for Travel & Hospitality:
    • Thursdays from 1 to 3 p.m.
    • Fridays at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
    • Sundays at 10 a.m. and noon
  • Best days to post on Twitter for Travel & Hospitality: Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays
  • Worst days to post on Twitter for Travel & Hospitality: Tuesdays

Travel and hospitality industries once again doubled their engagement on X relative to last year. Compared to the year prior, hospitality businesses pivoted their strategies as the post-pandemic spike in travel continues, and they saw a return on their efforts throughout most of the day.

The best times to post on X for travel and hospitality businesses seem a bit sporadic but they’re actually concentrated to typical business hours. With that in mind though, the best days and times to post on X for travel and hospitality are Thursday from 1 to 3 p.m., Fridays at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., and Sundays at 10 a.m. and noon.

Travel and hospitality social media resources

How to find your own best times to post on Twitter (X)

Social marketers can plan content more effectively when they’re armed with data. And as platforms evolve, how brands and consumers use social will evolve with them, or vice versa. Staying aware of new content formats and trends might help you reach your audience in unexpected ways, or even find new segments and personas you weren’t focusing on before.

How to find your best time to post on Twitter (X) with Analytics

While you may be ready to jump in and post at these provided peak engagement times as part of your strategy, consider pairing this data with your own X data analysis. You may discover that your specific target audience is active near the peak times we’ve outlined or hours earlier.

To find your best times to post with native X analytics via desktop, follow these steps:

  1. Login to Twitter, and from the homepage select More then Analytics.
  2. You’ll automatically arrive at the native Twitter analytics dashboard, where you can see an overview of your profile and Posts.

How to find your best time to post on Twitter (X) with Sprout Social

A social media management tool like Sprout Social can help you drill into your analytics and develop tailored findings for your brand accounts across all networks, holistically and individually. Gain competitive insights by comparing your performance to your competitors, to find new opportunities for engagement.

With features like post tagging and cross-network reporting, you can separate different factors like post author or types of content, and drill down into how your posting time influenced your social success.

Screenshot of Sprout Social's cross-network post performance report that shows the total number of engagements and by engagement type.

Sprout’s patented ViralPost® technology uses the same data we’ve used to look at all our customer accounts to determine the best time to post tailored for your account. ViralPost® algorithmically determines the results for our Optimal Send Times feature, a publishing option available in all plans. Our proprietary machine learning feature isn’t new, but we’re constantly learning and improving our product to help brands surface insights faster. Our goal is to help people who use our product work more effectively.

Screenshot of Sprout Social's Compose box with the "Use Optimal Times" dropdown selected with several times provided as options of when to schedule social media posts for the highest engagement.

With Optimal Send Times, the specific times offered are based on when your audience engages the most using your publishing history. ViralPost® also continually updates and refines to save you time from doing the repeated analysis and allowing you more time to craft great content.

Want to see it in action? Sign up for a free 30-day trial of Sprout Social or request a personalized demo and try it for yourself.

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If you’re looking for more of our findings from this year’s study of our customer data, see what we learned about the best times to post across eight industries on these networks:

How Sprout gathered the data

We understand that these reports can raise questions about just where the data is coming from. That’s why we want to be clear about the data we pulled and how we got here.

Sprout Social’s Data Science team gathers this information by analyzing nearly 2 billion engagements across 400,000 social profiles across Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok.

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