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Concerts, sporting events, weddings, conferences, parties – occasions to gather in the name of community have been canceled due to the spread of COVID-19 across the globe. But that doesn’t mean that community is canceled. With social distancing in full effect, people are spending all day in front of screens and are staying tuned in to social media, specifically Instagrammers, in order to connect to communities virtually.
Instagram has already been a top social media platform for fostering community. Influencers and users on Instagram have brought people together with common interests since the platform’s start. Accounts for literally every kind of hobby or interest exist, and those who follow and engage with these accounts develop communities surrounding such interests. In what may seem like the distant past, members of these Instagram communities organized meet-ups and other in-person events, but social distancing has kept these from being an option. Instead, Instagrammers are utilizing other ways to keep communities connected. Read on to see how Instagrammers have switched up their content since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keeping things positive
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected literally everyone in the world – from travel restrictions to school closures to the closing of nonessential businesses, governments across the globe have enacted drastic guidelines to slow the spread of the coronavirus. On top of the fear of catching the virus, many people around the world face the anxiety that comes with being away from their loved ones.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-IJvQMjeds/
#alonetogether has been a trend on social media, but Instagrammers have taken the real idea behind this hashtag and ran with it. Brands, influencers, and regular ol’ Instagrammers like you and I have been posting content that reminds everyone that we’re in this together. Keeping things positive while also raising awareness about good health and practices navigating the COVID-19 pandemic is what Instagrammers have been all about during this strange season. Here are some ways Instagrammers have switched up their regular content by sharing posts that have more of an uplifting focus.
1. Embracing creativity with story challenges
Instagram stories are a wildly popular feature of the platform, with many Instagrammers posting stories more often than feed posts. From gif challenges to bingo to push up challenges and everything in between, challenges where you share a story and tag friends have been popping off since the beginning of quarantine. As something everyone and anyone can participate in, story challenges are a fun way to engage with friends while being socially distant.
2. Fundraising
With over 500 million daily users, Instagram is a great place to fundraise for causes important to you. Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, Instagrammers have used the platform to raise money for healthcare and frontline workers, the unemployed, underprivileged children, and those with food insecurity. Just one example of this is the @savethestories account that raises funds for Save the Children and No Kid Hungry.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B_ft9YknoA-/
Seeing all of the action taking place on their platforms, Facebook now allows fundraising with live streams! A new feature added to Instagram only three days ago supports raising money for nonprofits while live streaming. Another thing to be thankful for during this pandemic, great innovations that benefit society.
3. Raising awareness
As social distancing guidelines spread across the globe to stop the spread of the virus, Instagrammers embraced #safehands and #istayhomefor in order to raise awareness of these guidelines.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-ppWvgpbS-/
Instagram Live
One of the major ways Instagrammers have switched up their content since the beginning of the lockdown is utilizing live streaming. If you’re a regular user of Instagram, you probably noticed a lot more accounts going live every day. Here are just a few of the ways Instagrammers engaging with followers across the globe with the app’s live feature:
1. Live Concerts
Artists from every genre of music have brought the joy of music to our homes with Instagram Live. John Mayer, for example, goes live on Instagram super often to not only sing our favorites but to chat and make up music on the spot. He even brings on guests like BJ Novak and Leon Bridges. And Instagrammers who are classic rap fans will go crazy if the rumors are true that Diddy will battle Dr. Dre on Instagram Live.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-voqWblxy4/
2. Live Comedy Shows
Nothing like a good celebrity roast, right? Well, how about roasts of random people? Jeff Ross is the king of roasting bigtime celebrities, but for the sake of quarantine and bringing laughs to people across the world he did Insta-Roasts of random people on Instagram Live. Like he said in the video, “If you can laugh at yourself, you’re a healthy person.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_aWMt8pggx/
3. Live Fitness Classes
With gyms and fitness studios closed across the world, instructors and influencers have taken their workouts digital, utilizing Instagram Live. There’s never been an easier time to get in shape as there’s something available for all levels of fitness enthusiasts across Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_adfXFJ9cT/
What Brands are Doing Differently
Following the trend of Instagrammers in general, accounts for brands across the platform are keeping with the times of the COVID-19 pandemic by keeping things positive and raising awareness. Many brands have had to change up the way they do business during this time, and many of them have gotten extremely creative.
1. Restaurants
As restaurants have changed their operations for takeout and delivery only, their Instagram presence has been used to get the word out about these changes and the ways they’re adapting. Keeping with its brand, Chipotle continues to share humorous content and memes to bring smiles to their followers. And they also do frequent giveaways to spread cheer.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-e9OEBjVpg/
2. Lending Communities a Helping Hand
Brands like Starbucks are big on lending a helping hand through philanthropy, and this time is no different. They’ve provided free coffee to healthcare workers and also raise funds for local communities with grants and other programs. But they’ve used their global reach to spread good vibes with content that communicates putting mental health first: “You can’t pour from an empty cup.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_U3bilnZSn/
3. Promoting Healthy Habits
Just like Instagrammers across the globe, brands are promoting healthy habits and social distancing practices. Only publishing 2 feed posts since the end of March, Nike’s content is extremely powerful in encouraging their followers to stay home. #playfortheworld empowers followers to know that their effort to socially distance is an effort that helps the entire world.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9_440DAyvZ/
What Influencers are Doing Differently
Influencers help bring people together, and during this very scary time, their ability to create community through Instagram is helping people everywhere. Travel influencers are now rooted in their homes, foodies are bound to their own kitchens, and artsy creators are restricted to use what’s in their homes to produce content. But these limitations have only brought out more creativity, for that we are extremely grateful!
1. New IGTV Series
Celebrities have brought us fresh content to keep us going back to their profiles week after week with IGTV series. John Krasinski, Antoni Porowski, and Jonathan Van Ness (JVN) have all created videos to entertain Instagrammers everywhere. John Krasinski’s star-studded show, “SomeGoodNews,” hosted a virtual prom, Antoni from Queer Eye teaches us how to cook, and JVN exploits the cuteness of his cats to deliver some much-needed comic relief. It’s a wonderful time to be on Instagram, truly.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_aXLMfB6eh/
2. Working with Brands
Influencers have had to get creative when it comes to working with brands, and LA-based fashion influencer Suzy Day Shattuck is a shining example of doing this well. Encouraging followers to stay home and embrace their creativity, her post in partnership with Not Your Mother’s is inspiring to Instagram content creators everywhere with the caption “We can’t go to the beach, but we can bring the beach inside!”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-aekk0H6BW/?utm_source=ig_embed
3. Keeping it Light
Not everything has to be doom and gloom when talking about the coronavirus, and comedian Aaron Chewning is living proof of that sentiment. He shares tips about working from home, mocking the cliches seen in the typical posts like that, saying that he takes breaks to go scream in his toilet to let out his frustration about White House daily press briefings. Aaron also posted a video on Instagram with the caption, “COVID-19 YouTuber,” naming different racy videos the character would make throughout the social distancing YouTuber.
