As a history buff, do you ever wish there was more history on Instagram? As it turns out, there are many accounts that post historical photos, videos, and stories each day. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for you to carve out a niche for your personal brand or business in the history space. To get started, ask yourself these three questions:
- What is my unique perspective on history?
- How can this perspective add to the collective understanding of the subject?
- Who is the target audience for my Insta feed about history?
After you’ve determined your unique take and figured out who your audience is, you’ll be ready to start collecting, editing, and posting images. However, it can be intimidating to try to grow a history-based account these days, and you may want to look at the most popular ones for inspiration. Research is key to understanding the market.
Once you get started, you may be focused on growing your account. If you’re struggling to gain engagement for Instagram, you may want to buy 20 likes to give your account a quick boost. In the meantime, you can learn the styles of profiles that post about different eras using breathtaking pictures and informative captions with these TOP most liked history-related profiles:
History – @history by the History Channel
With more than 6.7 million followers, this account features pictures from historical events, celebrities, and social functions from the past, and surprisingly few references to aliens:
- They frequently make #thisdayinhistory posts, like this one, on the discovery of King Tut’s tomb on November 26, 1922, which has nearly 80,000 hearts.
- A recent post featuring a candid black-and-white photo of Betty White gained more than 61,000 taps after the star’s passing.
- Many of the accounts’ images are in black-and-white, while others are in color but maintain that historical feel.
- They also feature some modern photos of historical sites, such as this one of the Grand Canyon.
History Cool Kids – @historycoolkids
Rather than just posting historical photos and providing a textbook account about the background, this profile attempts to fill in the context of photos from history. One recent picture features a 1967 political cartoon about Martin Luther King Jr., and the caption goes into detail about the artist, Dr. King’s approval ratings both in the 1960s and today, and the serious challenges he faced in his fight for equality, so the reader can better understand the cartoon. Another post deconstructs the elements of artist Edward Hopper’s popular sad clown painting, Soir Bleu, including class distinctions, the disapproving bourgeoisie couple, and a possible reference to Vincent Van Gogh.
Atlas Obscura – @atlasobscura
This profile focuses on strange and fascinating places around the world and fills in their background with stunning photos and backstories. Their bold images usually focus on a strong focal point image, such as a building or natural landmark. However, some display a more diffuse focus. Take a look at this stunning photo of the Caves of Waitomo, with a caption that explains that those “stars” on the ceiling are actually glowworms. The first record regarding the cave’s exploration dates back to 1887.
Marina Lo Blundo – @maraina81
This archeological blogger account is one part travel blog, one part history lesson. The poster takes gorgeous photos from her travels, mostly across Europe, and explains the stories behind some of the historical sites she visits, like this colorful photo depicting the Forum of Caesar, the Forum of Trajan, and the Forum of Augustus. The text is in Italian, so you may need to ask Google to translate for you.
Sotheby’s – @sothebys
This art-focused Insta feed shows the viewer history one object at a time, from paintings to sculptures to jewelry to entire rooms. Many of the items depicted are for sale at the auction house, but the pictures and history remain on the site afterward. Even if you can’t afford to bid, you can learn a lot from the well-lit photos, such as this one of the 1960 Mercedes 300 SL Roadster. It was one of only 1,858 produced in the line.
Getty Museum – @gettymuseum
The Getty Museum posts art images and explains their history, such as the creation of this Egyptian Mosaic glass inlay featuring a potted plant that was created more than 2,000 years ago. However, most of the images on the feed are people-focused, including multiple portraits like this one, a self-portrait of 16th-century German artist Hans Holbein the Younger. This feed focuses on close-up, personal-feeling images and includes history from different time periods around the world.
Brown History – @brownhistory
Focused on telling forgotten stories of South Asian history, this profile includes photos of people, magazine covers, and even architectural sketches. In this photo, we learn about Bapsybanoo Parvy, who spoke twelve languages and traveled the world working in philanthropy. The feed focuses on faces and features a mixture of black-and-white and color photography.
History In Pictures – @historyphotographed
This feed is run by Moments in Pictures, a modern website that implores the viewer to check out their NFT community. But the collection of images, mostly black-and-white but some in color, hails from well before anyone ever asked, “What’s an NFT?” However, many of these photos do provoke questions, like, “What am I looking at?” This picture of cable painters on the Brooklyn Bridge in 1914-15 will make you do a double-take. The bridge took fourteen years to complete, and more than 24 people died during its construction, including its designer, John Roebling. Talk about a tough place to work!
History in Color – @historycolored
If you’re into art and photo restoration, you’ll love this account dedicated to digitizing and colorizing old black-and-white photos. It gives the viewer a better idea of what a scene might have looked like in reality. Check out this photo of a Norwich, Connecticut street in November of 1940. The colors appear so real, it’s almost like looking out a window into the past. Meanwhile, this 1958 picture of the Taj Mahal taken by Felice Beato looks like it might be only a few decades old, with deep hues of blue, green, and beige.
What Will Your History Instagram Look Like?
When choosing an Instagram focus, it’s important to think about establishing a uniform look for your photos – colors, themes, style of pictures, subjects, etc. Look at what else is available and try to find a niche no one else occupies at the moment. Maybe you’re the history blogger who dresses up like historical figures or reenacts events in black-and-white. Maybe you like to take historical photos and add fun filters. Whatever you choose, remember that you can boost your brand and business on Insta when you buy 20 likes. Now go and show the world some history!