Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

The last thing you expect from the Rock is long-windedness. But Dwayne Johnson is a veritable novelist on Instagram, where he documents his days, which are composed chiefly of pumping iron at the gym, playing with his dogs, and eating snacks on private jets. Take, for example, this post from Labor Day, in which Johnson tells the gripping story of jumping into his pool with two baby French bulldogs in no less than 240 words. Spoiler: The dogs almost drown, but the Rock saves them.

Instagram, a minimalist, mobile-focused app for sharing photos, might seem like a strange place to keep a public diary. Facebook, which aggressively positions itself as an ongoing digital record of your life, comes across as a more natural place to share updates and idle musings. But the Rock’s not alone: People are increasingly turning toward Instagram not just as a place to post filtered photos, but to spill their lives and thoughts into the captions as well.

Why is this happening? For one thing, if you’re already posting pretentious, evocative images, you’re more likely to be in an artsy-musings state of mind. But it’s more than that: Facebook, at 1.5 billion users, has felt cacophonous and impersonal for a while. Many of us use it as an address book more than a means of communication; with its sheer density of information, writing a sincere post there feels a little like shouting on the streets of Manhattan. Instagram might eventually grow as large as Facebook, but its uncomplicated design and tightly curated feed make it more than just a photo app — it’s also one of the more potent blogging spaces around....