David Attenborough, from Natural History Broadcaster to Social Media Influencer

Over many decades Sir David Attenborough has amassed an audience of millions with his documentaries and environmental campaigns through many digital means such as film and TV. His presence is known worldwide as much of his work can be found on the BBC and now Netflix with his short new film and book.

This year he switched his mode of contact with the world by downloading Instagram and becoming the fastest person ever to reach 1 million followers in just over 5 hours overtaking Jennifer Aniston. David is capitalizing on his young following by engaging with them more directly as 73% of Gen-Z use Instagram regularly.

David expresses his ideas and connections online using the help of others to post for him to bridge the gap in his online knowledge. He acknowledges his gap in online skills and is getting help from people who know how to post effectively. Reaching his target audience of future leaders, he must broadcast his ideas in places they will see them, with a large following of 6 million he is achieving this goal.

Through his feed you can see several personalized videos David has filmed himself, speaking of ideas for the future and how we can carry the torch for saving the wildlife and natural environment of this planet. This is a much more sensitive and personal glance into the life of such a famous man, as we get to see his story from the start, and how he has come to learn in the same way that he hopes we will, from the messages he is sharing.

Attenborough has been deemed a national treasure for many, many years and has been named one of the 100 Greatest Britons. Using his well-known name, he has created a video for his followers in which he is answering questions from other celebrities such as Billie Eilish and David Beckham. Not only does this help him achieve his goal of educating the world but also helps him engage with people from different generations and social groups.

This engagement with different demographics allows for his online presence to be more noticed and interacted with but also allows for him to grow as an online influencer. He can bring in people who may not have initially heard of him and those who did not know he was now on Instagram.

This collaboration with others highlights the importance of David’s voice and puts him in a different setting to which we see him, one on one engaging with other celebrities. These different perspectives David shows of himself make him a very authentic and accessible individual.

His recent online presence and dominance were timed with the release of his new Netflix documentary ‘A Life on our Planet’ which was his mission statement. His Instagram account is a support and follow up to his ideas expressed in this film and how sudden action is required, people must engage in new things such as Sir David Attenborough joining the online world.