Why Won't People Like This Poor Dog's Instagrams?!

by Christie Grimm · December 5, 2018

    As far as I'm concerned, Instagram is a social networking service strictly for sharing photos and videos of adorable animals. I don't care about where you're vacationing, or where you ate dinner. @Guestofaguest follows 2,520 accounts, and I'm just going to assume that 60% of those are dogs because of me. Golden retrievers, to be specific.

    In the recent New York Times article, I Tried to Make My Dog an Instagram Celebrity. I Failed., Brian X. Chen lays out the story of his grand scheme to stage mom push his corgi Max to the grand heights of social media stardom. In a world where everyone's trying to become an "influencer," it's zero shock that everyone's also trying to get their cat in on the mix as well.

    And I've got to say, scrolling through his @cookingwithfatmax account, even I, gross consumer of dog content, wasn't too hot and bothered by the photos. It's hard to put a finger on what Brian could do better. Maybe, as he recalls being told by a marketing team, the account's concept of highlighting a recipe alongside Max's cheerful begging is too convoluted for people to be interested in. Maybe the quality of the photos just isn't good enough. Maybe the captions just aren't catchy enough. Or maybe, there are just too many dog influencers on Instagram to ever have the hope of catching up?

    While I tend not to believe the latter, there's got to be some reason nobody's liking this poor pups photos, right? Do your part - even if it's just a sympathy follow!