When a Pandemic Pushed Instagram to Stay Home and Go LIVE

Influencers are lifting the veil off their instagrammable side of life. Wait, there’s more.

They are exposing the side that most people want to run away from right now: their life in times of a pandemic.

As the rest of the world is conforming, Instagram took a sudden left turn and changed its face overnight. Top social media creators that sustain Instagram activity through their constant flow of quality content chose to stay at home. However, this commitment to the greater good left them with only one type of scene — their homes.

You might be asking yourself, what can you create when confined within a limited amount of square feet? It turns out: a lot actually.

Social media influencers have proved once more that they are true creators even when resources are scarce. Equipped with their phone cameras, their social walls are busier than ever.

The Instagram Community Dynamic

A few weeks ago, when the world was a healthier place, Instagram was an online platform that mirrored the beauty of reality. As nature was preparing to uncover its rich palette of colors, fragrances, and warm sun rays, so did society.

Numerous events were ready to awake people from the winter slumber. Concerts, product launches, brand activations, restaurant openings, conventions, garden parties, and so on — the field was set for the rebirth of vibrant lifestyles. And Instagram was quick to reproduce this awakening in real-time.

However, the coronavirus pandemic happened. All plans for 2020 were simply put on hold. The greater good took precedence over everything else.

Just like that, social media influencers had to store all their fashion cocktail outfits away. And their schedules busting with events made plenty of room for day-time pajama parties.

That being said, popular Instagram accounts did not give in to anxiety. On the contrary, Instagrammers are eager to display the changes they went through to adapt to a period of crisis.

New Times Require New Tools

One of the steepest Instagram reconstructions that occurred at the height of the pandemic was a tool reclassification.

Once overused and ubiquitous, Instagram posts are now just throwbacks to better days. Stories no longer show behind the scenes of special moments.

Meantime, there’s a new star that took the stage: Instagram Live.

Now more than ever, creators are connecting with their followers in real-time by going live on Instagram.

They use these sessions of reality checks to keep followers engaged. More than that, influencers are not shying away from touching sensitive topics related to their own way of coming to terms with self-isolation.

The Instagram storyline is now busy with live streams. Anybody can join, and by doing that, they are leaving behind social isolation and step right into physical distancing. While the former implies a deep form of alienation from people, the latter reveals a concept where technology keeps communities tightly-knit even when members are miles away apart.

Just like with their posts and Stories, influencers are getting creative with their live streams. Some are informing; others are entertaining. Let’s take a closer look at what’s happening at the front of Instagram.

Daily Series

Lindsey Von, an American Olimpic skier who has gathered a large community on Instagram, decided to run a series of live sessions with her fiance, P.K. Subban.

Since the moment they decided to isolate themselves at home for the upcoming period, their daily routine has incorporated a new habit: they take a 20-minute bathtub in the evening. During this time, the couple decided to go live with their followers on Instagram.

What started out as a fun distraction ended up as a daily live series under the hashtag #TubTime. On the course of their 20-minute bathtub session, Lindsey and P.K. are answering questions and having fun with their community.

As both of them are professional athletes who lead healthy and highly-active lifestyles, they share tips accordingly. Another thing they are doing is to deliver updates on how they spend their time during self-quarantine. So their live content couldn’t be any fresher or more relevant for their community.

Fun Ideas for Home Entertainment

We all turn to our life partners for support whenever faced with struggles. Meantime, the fun or romantic side of being in a relationship gets neglected. But not on Tezza‘s watch.

Even though it’s stressful nowadays, Tessa Barton made time to date her husband, Cole. They even made it a double date online with their friends. Not only that, but they invited a couple of hundreds of thousands in to share their blast.

The two couples dressed up and made themselves comfortable in two separate living rooms in front of their cameras. They enjoyed dinner and answered questions about how they met, their favorite music band, and so on. Then they moved on to activities playing a mobile game called “Heads Up!” which is a sort of charade.

Overall, the 1-hour session was all about enjoying themselves and focusing more on the loved ones and the community. For 60 minutes, everybody forgot the troubles and became more mindful of friends and family.

Group Fitness Classes

One of the first measures authorities took to slow down the virus spread was to close down public places. This procedure affected restaurants, bars, but also gyms.

Everybody can work out in the comfort of their homes. However, gyms do own an element that makes them unmatchable: the drive an entire class of practitioners is inspiring.

To make up for the shutting down of gyms, fitness influencers went live on Instagram. Here they were reunited with their active community in real-time and broke into a therapeutic sweat.

During these sessions of live fitness, members can find no more excuses, only motivation. They can’t pause the video and forget about it. Once they start the routine, influencers’ good mood encourages them to get through the entire workout.

Krissy Cela is one of the trainers popular on Instagram who don’t want her community to find excuses and let external factors hijack their active lifestyle. So the 1.9 million-follower account owner decided to host several daily fitness classes.

The feedback her work received was overwhelmingly positive. Tens of thousands of people joined her live stream. Throughout the class, words of encouragement kept flooding the chat. Plus, in the aftermath, tens of users filmed themselves while training with Cela and they shared these moments in the Stories and tagged her username.

In other words, this initiative had a massive impact, engaging thousands of people in healthy activities.

Dialogues with Professionals

Another endeavor social influencers committed to these past few days is to promote reliable sources of information. They made it clear that their voices are not to be followed for expert advice in health but for inspiration.

So some Instagram account owners acted as mediators between their community and professionals. Among them, Mary Lawless Lee.

Mary conducted a live interview with a nurse who works in the emergency room. The 28-year-old nurse confessed that she lacks a platform with access to a public with whom to share health information and real-life experiences at the forefront of the battle against COVID-19.

By going live with the beauty influencer on Instagram, the ER nurse instantly reached out to a broad audience. She talked not only about official measures people should implement to protect themselves but also about how anybody can help doctors out in these times. She also answered questions in the audience and reassured them that they can defeat the pandemic together, as a community.

Final Word

Alone but together. Even though the distance is keeping people away from each other, there are means to overcome social isolation. Instagram has put at users’ disposal an invaluable tool that can plant thriving social connections in times of crisis.

What are the social media influencers you are keeping an eye on doing to support their communities during trying times? Let us know in the comments below!