Instagram etiquette isn’t for everyone.
This year saw the birth of the #FreeBritney movement. Fans believed the pop star had her social media taken away from her by management under her conservatorship.
How did they know? Because she stopped posting her eccentrically random content on Instagram, and the fans weren’t having it.
It’s common for celebrities to keep their feeds polished and colour-co-ordinated. When a star breaks from the PR-approved, highly engineered approach, it can be refreshing. Some celebrities have even gained huge followings by being endearingly unfiltered online.
Here are five accounts you should follow if you’re looking for a reminder that the stars are, actually, just like you — and everyone else you went to high school with.
WHO: Cardi B — @iamcardib
WHY: The record-breaking rapper’s best PR move is always to be unapologetically herself. On Instagram, she posts pictures of her sexy outfits, reposts memes she finds funny and shares fan accounts’ pictures. But what makes her account so special is her late-night political rants.
Cardi B shows her followers that she cares about bigger issues, and she encourages them to do the same.
Fully glammed, Cardi B asks in one post: “If I was to have the chance to ask all of these Democratic candidates a question, what would that question be? Me, (…) I would like to ask, what are we going to do about police brutality?”
WHO: Snoop Dogg — @snoopdogg
WHY: Rapper, singer, songwriter, producer, media personality, entrepreneur, actor — there isn’t much Snoop Dogg doesn’t master. And when you’re Snoop Dogg, Instagram etiquette doesn’t really apply.
The entertainer does pretty much whatever he wants on Instagram, posting more often than your nephew on TikTok. Nineteen posts in 24 hours? Not a problem. Selfie-mode singing videos in the car? Got it. Reposts of last week’s viral fail video? Yep. Weird Michael Jackson montage for his serenade song to Kawhi Leonard? Sure. Might as well throw a dark photo of a Fourth of July strawberry cake in there, too.
WHY: The actor has a could-be-your-dad vibe, which he surely emulates on Instagram. He doesn’t fully wipe his camera lens before snapping a pic, which gives some shots an artsy vibe. What makes his account truly special, however, is his ongoing series of photographs of lost and found items. Mostly gloves and shoes — arguably, garbage — and always with a short caption signed “Hanx.”
WHO: Chris Pratt — @prattprattpratt
WHY: Pratt rose to fame as Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation and followed that with one of the most impressive glow-ups of our time. But the Jurassic World star didn’t let the clout go to his head.
As a dad on Instagram, Pratt posts some awkward sunburn photos, cute wedding pictures and highly filtered selfies with Rob Lowe. But the reason you should be following him is to keep up with the #farmlife photos that overwhelm his feed. Pratt is proud to be a country guy, and he has the content to show it: his sheep, lambs, pigs and cows will bring joy into your feed.
WHO: Britney Spears — @britneyspears
WHY: If you haven’t spent hours going through Spears’ Instagram yet, you’re in for a ride.
Perhaps the most “Facebook mom” of all, Spears is no stranger to posting inspirational quotes — some of them her own — over stock images. One of her more recent posts even featured an image of a minion.
Spears’ vacation montages are worth the detour, too.
“Today’s my last day in Turks and Caicos, and these are the beautiful purchases I got to remember this beautiful beautiful place,” she says in one of her vacation montages. You’ll swipe left for a picture of two hats, bracelets and a bottle of nail polish.
She’s one of the most random celebrities on Instagram, and that’s exactly why her fans missed her during the #FreeBritney blackout.