9 feel-good Instagram accounts that make my day better
Words by Christina Karras
Happy scrolling.
At times it feels appropriate to liken the Internet to a vortex, a black hole of endless and meaningless scrolling. As someone with an innate ability for procrastination, Instagram is my go-to place for ‘accidentally’ wasting the better part of a day.
I suspect lots of us know the feeling – I’ll do a routine check of my feed in the morning and suddenly, it’s 2pm and I’m watching videos of the Kardashian offspring and trawling acrylic nail designs.
And while the app cops a lot of flack for its filtered realities, it’s also a place for the creative, weird and inspirational to show itself in ways I never knew I needed. Among the generic brand of influencer and celebrity, I’ve scoured my embarrassingly long list of follows for nine of the most uplifting, amusing or wholesome accounts that snap me out of the void and make me actually laugh out loud. Or at least, smile.
Thank me later.
With over five million followers, Rickey’s videos have made him an Instagram celebrity if you will. The man’s dead serious demeanor while he screams his inspirational monologues into the camera about everything from his new boots, to social encounters and self-love gives me an instant laugh and confidence boost. He gives new meaning to what it means to be yourself unapologetically. Bonus points for his great outfit inspo.
You may or may not remember keyboard cat. It seems apparent to me that he walked so @michele_e_b’s account could run. Operated by Michele Bisaillon from Silicon Valley, the account features her cat Peach, often posed looking existentially into mirrors or wearing chic sunglasses from the likes of Poppy Lissman, or with bread around his face. It’s reinventing the Internet’s age-old obsession with cats.
If you don’t like astrology maybe this one isn’t for you. Or, maybe it is the gateway to a fun and self-indulgent world of great memes geared towards your star sign. I’ve converted many naysayers via the power of this account. You’ll scroll looking for your own sign only to be attacked by how accurate it is. And for me, there is something scary yet comforting of being comedically called out by memes that play into the cosmic world of astrology. Like the universe knows me…
22-year-old dancer Donte Colley has gained an international following for his bite-sized videos that animates emojis and ‘90s word art to his choreography. The words literally explode across the screen with messages of positivity and encouragement saying paired to bops like the SVU title, while Donte rocks heart emojis out of his hands and twerks with conviction. He’s a modern Internet classic, and inspires me to keep on keeping on.
The handle says it all really. It’s just screen caps of Louis Theroux being Louis Theroux and saying things that are amusing and plain weird pulled out of context. You don’t even have to be a huge Louis Theroux fan to enjoy this content, It’s just wholesome fun.
Because even famous people love famous people. There’s something fascinating about people watching, and our interest is only levelled up when it comes to watching celebrities interact with each other. @commentsbycelebs chronicles the best of celebrities interacting with each other via the internet.
Sometimes kids say the darndest things. And other times they offer wisdom beyond their years. Dedicated to immortalizing the one-line zingers from children far and wide sent in from followers, it’s equal parts relatable and adorable. Personal favourites include earnest and honest words like “I love the sound of no one talking,” or “let’s be best friends until one of us dies.”
@werenotreallystrangers
Experts at stirring feelings, @werenotreallystrangers offers words of comfort and confrontation in its feed of aesthetic messages sprawled across billboards and street signs. It feels like the world is subliminally asking you the hard questions, and when they pop up on my feed it often prompts a nice moment of self-reflection, asking me to check in with myself. It’s also a card game if you want to confront your emotions IRL.
@filthyratbag
Melbourne artist Celeste Mountjoy hits the nail on the head with all the emotions of millennial dread in her David Shrigley-esque illustrations. Her works seem to critique the facades we build and the lies we tell ourselves, in the most amusing way possible. Modern art has found a new place to be consumed on Instagram, and accounts like hers serve as a nice reminder that even when everything sucks, we are all in this together.
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