I tried different Instagram aesthetics to see which got more followers

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I tried different Instagram aesthetics to see which got more followers

Obviously I used Wes Anderson quotes in the bios

As a self-proclaimed Instagram addict, I can waste hours of free time scrolling through the app. It’s one of the fastest growing social networks and has the ability to shoot average people into the skies of internet fame.

I’ve often wondered what really makes an account popular. So I set up four different accounts with varying aesthetics to find out which would gain the most followers.

With only a week to carry out the experiment, I picked pictures from both Instagram and Tumblr amongst my own photos to curate an interesting and hopefully engaging feed. I used the same profile picture, similar account names and followed 50 similar accounts. Then I added a randomly chosen quote from a Wes Anderson film as the bio. That’s what people do right?

The summery mermaid aesthetic

The first account I curated was a summery mermaid aesthetic full of sparkling oceans, glitter and tropical beaches. For the filter I used +40 Perpetua to brighten the blues and greens in the pictures. In a week this account gained eight followers making it one of the more popular aesthetics which makes sense. It is summer.

The dark, grungey aesthetic

The second account I curated was a dark grungey feed. I kept the saturation low and edited on Instagram to remove the warmth from the photos. This account gained nine followers also but was the slowest to get any attention. The photos on this account received the least comments, but did gain the most followers.

The ‘I go on loads of holidays’ aesthetic

The next account I curated was a nature and travel aesthetic. I used +40 Juno to emphasise the jewel greens of the trees and fields that I filled this feed with. This account only gained five followers in a week, which was the second lowest of the four accounts. Whilst beautiful to look at, there was nothing very personal about the pictures and the varying different locations failed to really interest anyone.

The sassy basic bitch pastel aesthetic

The final account I curated was a pastel aesthetic that is popular amongst girly and arty feeds. For the filter I used +40 Clarendon on all the pictures to make them paler and ethereal.

This account turned out to be the one of most popular and was my favourite with it’s bright and quirky tone.

The Winner…

The winner overall was the grungey aesthetic and the pastel aesthetic with nine followers each.

The summery mermaid aesthetic came in second place but had the most engagement – with more likes and comments than the other three accounts.

The travel aesthetic account only gained five followers and was the least popular of the aesthetics I tried.

What I’ve learnt from this experiment in how to make a popular Instagram account is:

  • Make sure your account has a strong theme – the photos should relate to each other
  • Use the same filter to make them appear similar in the grid view
  • Post personal photos – the pictures with the most comments or likes were personal ones
  • Use a personal caption to give more information about the photo or yourself
  • Share your selfies – they get tons of likes
  • Related stories recommended by this writer:

    Are Instagram questions anonymous? 
    Here’s a step-by-step guide to how I got Instagram famous, and how you can do it too 
    Here’s your perfect Instagram aesthetic based on your star sign