A Dog-Like-Dog World: Pets on Instagram
puppies, we all love them theyâre cute, fluffy, small, and practically begging to be famous on social media
while Instagram has become a veritable spawning ground for the next generation of influencers itâs no surprise humanityâs best friend has tried for a place in the spotlight. popular accounts like Doug the Pug and Loki the Wolfdog have taken off in the past few years, generating millions of followers and brand deals just like their human counterparts.
the past few weeks iâve been exploring the nature of this dog-like-dog world with my own dog Remy as the frontman. with this account as my trojan horse, i investigated the values of the community, what promotes a response from users, how users interact, and what the overall goal of the community is.Â
at first glance, the dog Instagram (or dogstagram for those in a hurry) community seems to have little complexity beyond people sharing pictures of cute puppies. a deeper dive illustrated to me a world where strategic, intentional posting was intertwined with the whimsy of adorable animals. just like social media influencers operate on Instagram promoting themselves, brands, and âlifestyles,â many dogstagram accounts do the same.Â
take for example this photoshoot in which one of the most popular dogstagram accounts: Doug the Pug replicates a photoshoot from one of the most iconic influencers of all time Kim Kardashian-West. the shoot, published on Youtube by Mashable Watercooler and included below, shows a group of several people, a photographer, and videographer posing Doug to best imitate some of Kimâs most iconic selfies. the video has 233,347 views and was featured in several articles on Mashable and other online media sites.
dog influencers (dogfluencers?) may be cute but they also come with a different set of boundaries when compared to their human counterparts. adult humans tend to do whatever they want and influencers are no exception, but once you bring a dog into the equation everyone gets a little more conscious about the photo subjectâs well being. for example, on one post of mine that shows Remy as a puppy engaging in one of his favourite pastimes of licking the dishwasher, a commenter posted to be careful to keep him from getting caught on the appliance. this comment seemed to come from a good place, though i doubt anyone would comment a post of such concern on typical influencerâs post.
another value of the community which i find in high contrast with other influencer cultures in social media is the diversity of those who have found success. certainly more common breeds such as pugs, corgis, and french bulldogs have found their share of success on the platform, a wider range of colours, shapes, ages, and sizes can be found in dogstagram. instead of typically young, fit, attractive individuals like those succeeding in the human counter-component, there are popular accounts showing old dogs, special needs dogs (video below), and unusual dogs. there are certainly more dogs out there to be represented, but the community already shows a wide range of the spectrum.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by My Name Is ClydeđžâŁď¸ (@clydethesuperhusky) on Feb 8, 2019 at 10:55am PST
while the purpose of a dogstagram account ranges from showing off your dog to friends to creating a multimillion follower empire, the values remain relatively consistent. in order to succeed your dog needs to be cute, yes, but the variety of breeds and ages meet that description. people are slower to discriminate than they would be for a human influencer. i think thatâs one of the highlights of this community: as long as you can take relatively good quality pictures or your dog and treat them well, you can find a warm reception in the dogstagram community.
when looking at dogstagram posts, one thing youâre sure to notice is the hefty block of hashtags found at the bottom of many captions. from my time in the community, iâve noticed that this has been the primary method of users employed metadata.
as you can see above,  i have mirrored this trend in my own posts to see how it impacts my visibility. another post i made lacked this hashtag swarm and likewise faced fewer likes than my others. looking to other accounts i have noticed the same trends. accounts of medium popularity, generally a few hundred followers like this one, tend to add several lines of hashtags to each post related to their dog breed, general dog tags, and something relevant to the picture or caption.Â
accounts that donât follow this guideline fall into one of two groups: a significant amount of followers or an insignificant amount. the former accounts represent a dog with an already established brand, such as Pavlov who has over 100 thousand followers, brand deals, and a separate meme account. these posts may include a hashtag or two in special circumstances, the posts generally feature self-promotions in the form of websites or merchandise links.Â
the other side of the spectrum includes accounts like this with fewer than 200 followers which donât post hashtags and therefore generate fewer likes on their posts.
another example of response generation related to hashtags is the use of cross-tagging to generate more response on a given post. users looking to generate more of a diverse audience for a given post will include hashtags beyond the standard #dogsofinstagram variety. for example, this post by lychee the corgi which includes #chinesenewyear in addition to the usual dog-related hashtags. employing this method helps increase the visibility of the post and extends the audience beyond those browsing conventional dog hashtags. Â
using my own account as a case study, iâve found that the keys to âsuccessâ (however moderate my success may be) comes with building a foundation, hashtagging correctly, and cross-tagging. my first three posts hovered consistently in the 30-likes range but began to increase as I posted regularly. this suggests that for accounts just starting out or trying to grow a larger follower-base may need to put in some foundational work.
additionally, my experiment posting the above picture without hashtags illustrated that tagging does matter. this post received a number of likes comparable to my first few posts (around 30) but significantly lower than the 50-average generated in my later posts.Â
not only is the use of hashtags at all important, but the types of tags employed matters as well. the post of mine which garnered the largest response, posted below, showed that using hashtags strategically can increase the response as well. using other popular tags like #yoga and #downwarddog helped make this my most trafficked picture.
so sharing pictures of dogs is all fun and well but whatâs the point to the dogstagram community beyond the superficial? during my short time actively participating as a dogstagrammer, I found that many of their goals mirror those of the Instagram influencer.Â
according to an article in Newsweek Global titled âMy Date With Toast, the Absurdly Popular Dog Queen of Instagramâ by Zach Schonfeld, dogs on Instagram can mirror the path to success of their human counterparts by building a brand and partnering with companies to turn a profit. âThese dogs are moneymakers: A single sponsored Instagram post might earn an owner several thousand dollars,â wrote Schonfeld.
sponsorships from existing brands, from small, online pet apparel labels to internationally famous names, offer dog accounts a chance to make some cash. for example, the account Loki the Wolfdog with 1.9 million followers which posted this picture tagged: @toyotausa #4runner #keepitwild #sponsored.Â
other opportunities exist for smaller accounts as well. on my personal account, a company called Pawsomeneeds reached out to me looking to see if Remy would model their brand. though reputability of companies like this may be in need of some research, it goes to show that there is a growing market for advertising pet products through these dogstagram accounts.Â
on one hand, this community may act as a means of exploiting manâs best friend for popularity and money, allowing dog owners with the dedication to work at building an account the chance to network with companies looking for a furry face to sell their products. some may argue that this brings a darker side to the lighter, cuter side of the community, but i couldnât find examples of an outwardly sinister dogstagram account.
in my opinion, however, the overall dog Instagram community exists to bring a little happiness to the sometimes toxic world of social media. any chance to make money on the side becomes a bonus âside-hustle.â the overall goal of this community appears to be to show off your dog to a wider audience and spread the positivity associated with pets and those who love them.
as we discussed before, puppies (and dogs of all ages) are cute, so why hide that adorable light under a proverbial bushel. sharing dogstagrams can not only increase your daily dose of delight but also make you some money if you are willing to invest some time. my own experience showed that people are responsive to cute dogs and thereâs plenty of support to be had if you work at reciprocal relationships with other accounts.Â
the dogstagram community values dogs of all ages, breeds, needs, and sizes as long as you treat them well. they use hashtags and cross-tagging to mark and distribute their content to wider audiences and build a foundation on which to build their brand. some choose to work with existing companies to grow in popularity or make some extra money, but most work to build the community up by liking, commenting, and following other dogstagram accounts.Â
altogether, dogs on Instagram provide an extra dose of joy to your day whether youâre a casual follower or a fellow dog account.
