I have to admit to being a bit of novice when it comes to Instagram. I share the occasional photo of the beach close to where I live, or a sunset, or maybe a book photo if I’ve been lucky enough to receive some #bookpost. (I’m @portybelle on Instagram if you want to follow me.) I was really intrigued when Rebecca Armstrong from McGowan Transcriptions contacted me to see if I’d be interested in sharing a post about the most Instagrammed Writers of all time. we’re not talking about selfies here – we’re talking about authors who are no longer with us. What is it that makes certain authors trend on Instagram and what can cause a sudden increase in the number of searches or hashtags? Well, read on to find out more and have a look at the fascinating infographic at the end. I was certainly surprised by some of the top ten in particular.
The Most Instagrammed Writers of All Time
Although it’s better known for fashion and selfies, it turns out that Instagram is also a veritable hub for literature! Hashtags like #bookstagram and #bookaddict are incredibly popular, with Instagrammers using them to tag everything from gorgeous photos of book covers, to inspiring literary quotes, and envy-inducing shots of their bookshelves.
However, the team at McGowan Transcriptions wanted to look a bit deeper than this and have carried out their own research to definitively establish who the most Instagrammed writers of all time are.
They’ve focused solely on writers who are no longer with us, from the legendary bard himself William Shakespeare through to more modern literary figures like Maya Angelou and Roald Dahl. Altogether, they’ve looked at 27 writing superstars, and ranked them according to how many times the author’s name was tagged on Instagram. They’ve also included some fascinating data about each author’s most Instagrammed literary work.
Google Trends data also reveals some very interesting patterns – who knew how much a simple Google doodle could send a particular author’s search volumes skyrocketing? And perhaps unsurprisingly, film releases of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies correlated with a huge spike in interest for J.R.R Tolkien.
This study shows the extent to which authors can stand the test of time, and can still make an impact in today’s social media driven world, even if they died decades or centuries ago. Although we might be technology obsessed, it’s clear that brilliant books still capture our imaginations and resonate with us emotionally – why else post about them?
To see all the full data from the study, take a look at the complete infographic below. Do the top five surprise you, or were the results exactly what you expected?
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