Social media has taken over so many things – from the way we connect with our friends to the way we take a look into the lives of our favorite celebrities. Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and other forms of social media have played a role in this. Instagram, a social media platform devoted to posting images with optional captions, usually is used to see pictures of your friend’s dinner, or an image from your favorite musician on tour. However, one thing that it’s starting to be used more and more for is to spread poetry.
Posting poetry on Instagram is perfect for the millennial attention span – it’s short and straightforward, and usually on topics that are relevant to the millennial generation. There are many poets that are taking advantage of this platform and have used it to grow as a poet, and have their work reach more people. Shamir Reuben is a poet that has earned some followers on Instagram. He says he likes sharing his work on this platform because, “The good thing about social media is the interaction is two-way; so there’s feedback and the encouragement acts as an incentive to keep writing.” (Hindustan Times) So not only is the work beneficial to the reader, but it helps the artist grow as well. (To read more about Reuben, his work, and the work of other Indian “Instapoets” follow this link.)
Another poet that has gained a lot of puplatiry is Rupi Kaur, an empowering female poet. She is a great example of a poet making an impact in the world of poetry on Instagram. She has received a lot of criticism for her Insta poetry, especially because it’s easy to parody. People enjoy criticizing her work and posting about it. Here’s an example of a tweet someone made in reference to her poetry (original post by : Olivia Craighead@oliviacraighead)
While it’s easy to mock her, and her poems can sometimes be overly simplistic, it’s hard to argue with the fact that she’s doing something right – with more than 3.5 million followers on Instagram.
During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Kaur answers some questions about her poetry and Instagram. Here’s an excerpt from the interview:
What makes a poem right to post on your Instagram, versus the ones that stay in the book only?
If I can read a piece that I’ve written, and by the last line, it kicks me in the stomach, then I know that I can share this online.
So which of your poems do you look at and say, “This one isn’t going on Instagram”?
I think that’s going to be a new challenge for me, because mostly, everything in Milk and Honey I’ve shared online at some point or another. And if I haven’t posted them, it’s because I’m very embarrassed. I’m like, “Oh my God, this is what I used to think like five years ago! This is not the 2017 version of me.”
But going to the new book, I don’t know. It’s difficult to share something like “Broken English” online. I don’t think it’s possible to share a whole piece online [when it’s so long].
So now I’ve kind of split those into like, the exact thing I was telling you earlier: Picking a couple gems out of each one, and then being like, “Okay, I’m posting this as just an excerpt.” Or if there are pieces that are, for example, the one about female feticide — that’s a poem that I think needs a lot more context. It’s something that I think the West could read wrong if not given the right context. We’re figuring out how to do that, and introduce a large part of my audience who doesn’t know what female infanticide in India and China looks like — but doing it in a strategic way that will help them bring awareness.
(source: Entertainment Weekly)
Because of her willingness to share and open up on social media, her followers continue to grow, which helps spread her messages to everyone. I think it’s great because her words are powerful and it’s important for people to connect through art. Here’s a TED talk by Kaur, talking about her body and reclaiming it (original post by
TEDx Talks on YouTube):
Here’s a link to her Instagram, too, so you can read some of the words that have made her an Instagram poet phenomenon. (She is also a NYT bestseller.)
Another example of Insta poet fame is R.M. Drake (whose real name is Robert Macias). Drake has used Instagram to blow up and become a best selling author.
He used the platform in such a way to gain a huge following. Beginning by putting his work out there just for fun, it blew up to be shared by celebrities like Ludacris and the Kardashians. In an article from the Tech Times, Drake says, “It just started as an experiment. I honestly didn’t think anyone would read it,” he says chuckling, trying to explain how his work went viral. “It seems unreal, having such a huge celebrity following. Just yesterday I found out that Brandy was following me and I was like wow, that’s cool.”
He also explains why Instagram is a good platform for his work, “The more I write things about myself the more that people relate to it,” he says. “At least on social media, people want to expose how they’re feeling and things they’re going through and that’s what my writing does. It’s self-exploration and self-therapy.”
(These quotes come from an article from Tech Times which can be found here.)
Drake went from a few followers and blew up by getting likes, shares and followers. He worked his way to the top, becoming a best selling author in Amazon’s poetry category and able to make this his full time job.
An example of one of his more recent Insta poems (this is from his instagram)
With his reassuring words that so many can relate to, it’s no wonder why he has a massive 2 million followers on Instagram.
Here is a video talking more about his journey (originally posted by FUSION on YouTube):
While Kaur and Drake are excellent examples of how one can go from just posting on Instagram to becoming best selling authors, there are many other amazing poets on Instagram. Check out Atticus Poetry, Amanda Torroni, Tyler Knott Gregson, and Christopher Poindexter.
Using Instagram to reach so many is helping both poets and their audiences. We get to see more of what we love in a new way, while they get to do what they love and reach a larger audience. Poetry truly is a beautiful art form that makes the world a better place through words, and poets like these, in ways like these, are making the world better one poem at a time.
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