The 5 Most Popular Instagram Posts of 2019
- Alex Tric
- Jan 4, 2021
- 3 min read
What can one Instagram post tell you? If that post happens to be one of the 5 most popular posts of 2019, the answer is quite a lot. Below, we list each one, and explain what magical combination of visuals, timing and relevance made them so dang easy to double tap.
Account: @world_record_egg
Background: Chris Godfrey posted this simple photo of an egg specifically as a ploy to garner more likes on instagram than the platform’s record holder at the time, Kylie Jenner.
Why it’s viral: Because of the motivation behind creating the post being viral itself, this post’s viral-ness was a foregone conclusion. Social media users latched onto the idea of taking control of the platform with the power of the hive-mind, and it worked swimmingly - this photo of an egg is now the most liked post in social media history, across all platforms.
Account: @jenniferaniston
Background: Famous actress Jennifer Aniston finally drank the Koolaid and set up an Instagram account in October of 2019. For her first ever post, she shared a group-selfie (or a groupie perhaps?) of herself along with a few of her friends...the entire cast of legendary sitcom Friends.
Why it’s viral: There are several factors that led to this post going viral. First was demand - pretty much every big name celebrity posts regularly to at least several social media accounts, with Instagram being the most visually inclined. Aniston had been visibly absent from the platform despite many requests from her fans and followers. The second factor is nostalgia. Friends still has a massive fanbase with viewers across the world watching episodes in syndication. Combining the demand factor and the Friends factor together into one clearly spontaneous organic post positively blew up the internet for a few days.
Post 3 - Will Plant for Likes
Account: @tentree
Background: Earth-friendly clothing apparel brand Tentree, whose mission is to create sustainable apparel and drastically reduce climate change by planting 10 trees for every item sold, created a post in the spring of 2019 offering to plant a tree in Indonesia for every like that post received. It now stands as the 5th most liked Instagram post of all time.
Why it’s viral: The reason this post went viral is simple: people love doing something easy that they know will lead to a good deed. Tentree was also planting 10 trees in Indonesia for every piece of apparel it sold, so this marketing ploy was genius in that it was from the heart, sustainable, and led to massive engagement on their account. This post’s virality also indicates the massive increase in awareness about climate change among the users of the platform.
Account: @therock
Background: Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson tied the knot with Lauren Hashian in August of 2019 in Hawaii, after being a bachelor for over 10 years.
Why It’s Viral: The Rock already has a massive social media following and huge fan base, who we’re sure had been anticipating this union for quite some time. In addition, the setting and the enthusiasm the couple shows in the photos of the post are absolutely infectious. Note to content creators out there: genuine emotions plus amazing views are always a hit!
Account: @selenagomez
Background: Selena Gomez is a massively popular singer with a huge following of young fans, which makes her very active on Instagram. But Gomez isn’t just a celebrity—she’s also a human being, who has friends and attends those friends’ bachelorette celebrations and weddings. This series of photos, which are meant to celebrate her FRIEND, is actually the 5th most popular Instagram post of 2019.
Why it’s Viral: This one is pretty simple—Gomez’s fans clearly love seeing her behind the scenes, being a regular woman enjoying time with her girlfriends. In this post, Gomez is doing exactly that! Celebration and cultivation of the ‘girl gang’ was hugely important in 2019 with so many women reaching so many milestones across the globe, as well as the explosion of the Me Too movement. The popularity of this post indicates just how perfectly of the moment, and at the same off-the-cuff it was...the perfect equation for a viral Instagram post.
Here's what we learn from these
What is incredible about these five Instagram posts is just how much they touch on the culture of today, and hint at a deep connection to the issues each one of us had been confronting heading into 2020. Instagram is the social media platform of the moment, and these popular posts reflect that.
Take the lessons these posts teach about authenticity, friendship and stewardship, and carry them with you into your own content creation.
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