A Look Back at Your Favorite Celebrities’ First Instagram Posts, in Honor of Instagram’s 8th Birthday
Though it may be hard to believe, Instagram turns eight years old on October 6. That means, despite the feeling that we were all born scrolling endlessly through the photo sharing vehicle, Instagram has been an app in our pockets for less time than Facebook and Twitter. Thankfully, it evolved to become a space where celebrities showed us more than just behind-the-scenes looks at their breakfasts—it let us in on their family holidays and quotidian happenings. Thanks to the app, on which, with enough practice and followers, anyone can become a photographer, Instagram even spawned entirely new genres of celebrities and models on its own. Like most of us, many celebrities’ very first forays into the Insta-sphere were considerably embarrassing—the app was a playground for duck-faced selfies, intense and unnecessary edits and border crops, and filters galore, but we all (hopefully) know better now. Still, it can be jarring, and often hilarious, to take a peek at the very first thing one posted on any social media app, and the rich and famous are no exception. Here, a look back at the sometimes predictable and often wacky first posts from some of your favorite celebrities on Instagram.
Beyoncé, an outspoken supporter of Barack Obama, went political with her very first photo on Instagram, in 2012.
Timothée Chalamet woke up to two literal lovebirds (or pigeons on a ledge, you decide) cuddled up outside his window in New York City on February 25, 2014, and decided it would make a great photo opportunity for a first Instagram post.
Bob Marley has always been an “inspiration” to Rihanna, even in her very first Instagram post, in 2012.
The always punny Harry Styles shared a snapshot of some deer in 2012, dubbing the photo a—you guessed it—Deerstagram.
Britney Spears earnestly posing with British-Irish boy band The Wanted in 2011 as if she really knew who they were is extreme Britney Spears behavior, but how could you not love her for it?
There is an entire dissertation to be written about the advent of Lil Miquela, Instagram’s controversial enigma, who is known to be a fictional model and artist, but when she joined the app, in April 2016, the first photo she shared was of a fuzzy pink Sandy Liang vest. Her third post, however, was a photo of Paris Hilton’s 10th-grade yearbook picture, captioned, “#tbt my mom in high school,” and it was not until her fourth post on Instagram that her followers finally got an idea of what Lil Miquela looked like.
Naomi Campbell’s first Instagram post was not a supermodel throwback photo. Rather, it was a tribute (with a lengthy caption) to her friend and mentor Nelson Mandela, shortly after his death, in December 2013.
Considering his age (he’s only 22) and the amount of attention he has garnered on social media in recent months, the fact that Internet Boyfriend Noah Centineo’s first photo on Instagram was only posted on January 15, 2018, and the fact that it is a still from The Fosters, would make one think that the actor probably had an older private account before updating to this professional public one.
Of course Reese Witherspoon, Mom of the Year, would make her very first post on Instagram a tribute to her mom on Mother’s Day. Of course.
This seven-year-old photo of a baby-faced Gigi Hadid (with super long hair) holding an actual baby with her mom, Yolanda Hadid, is golden.
A tribute to Gisele Bündchen’s home country on the Brazilian model’s first post on Instagram? Makes total sense.
“Bonjour” from Celine Dion, an undisputed style icon of Instagram, who joined a little bit later than most (in October 2015).
Long before Luna and Miles entered the picture, Chrissy Teigen’s Instagram content mainly focused on her husband. Her love for John Legend runs so deep that he was the subject of her first post on Instagram, in 2012, as a heavily filtered and bordered version of himself.
The designer may have had an account dedicated to her brand, but Vera Wang just joined Instagram with a personal account on October 4, 2018. It’s never too late.
Diana Ross joined Instagram in October 2017 with the throwback to end all throwbacks.
