Instagram has taken over our lives...
In the ELLE office, we've convinced ourselves that it's part of our jobs to use it, thus giving us a convenient excuse for our scrolling addictions.
If we are not posting pictures of our breakfast, our pets, our heavily filtered sunset experiences that we upload with an ironic #nofilter, we are following our friends every move, crushing on the street style we can't afford, trying to keep up with the Hadids and obviously insta-stalking the sh*t out of our boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend.
So team ELLE took to their discovery pages to see how Instagram has interpreted their scrolling habits. If you aren't already aware, Instagram monitors your liking, commenting and following habits, in order to populate your 'Discover' feed (the one with the little magnifying glass icon) with things that it predicts you might want to see.
The results of our ELLE study somewhat shocking. I got the ball rolling with mouthwatering pictures of food (most including a carb of some sort), ashamedly a lot of Justin Beiber fan pages, yoga moves I definitely can't do, pugs that look like their owners and The Fat Jew memes.
Here is how the rest of Team ELLE fare. It is safe to say food is the top priority.
Lorraine Candy, Editor In Chief:
Mine is boxing, shoes, children and Cornish beaches.
Lotte Jeffs, Deputy Editor:
Babies and drag queens.
Alice Wignall, Content Director:
An incredibly weird mix of fashion and beauty bloggers, food, babies and Aidan Turner. I mean, I quite like Aidan Turner, but nowhere near as much as Instagram seems to think I do.
Kirsty Dale, Executive Fashion & Beauty Director:
Fitness, food, cycling, hair tutorials, hotels and bloggers.
Kenya Hunt, Fashion Features Director:
It's is all fashion people, clips of ballet dancers, and loads of ratchet clips from Vogue balls.
Susan Ward-Davies, Travel & Lifestyle Director:
Mine's mostly travel, predictably - and food, plus random mix of dogs, fashion, architecture and even a massive shark!
Lena De Casparis, Culture Director:
I guess at the Culture Director of ELLE I shouldn't be that surprised that my discover page is filled with ELLE cover stars - from Kim K to Rosie and not forgetting my favourite Insta Stalk Karlie Kloss (serious hair goals). I'm relieved there's a bit of culture in there with Frida Kahlo and Mean Girls (albeit a meme of them in Vetements).
Natasha Bird, Digital Content Editor:
As an avid follower of celeb culture (comes with the job), my discover feed is often stuffed with the Mileys and the Kendalls of the world. BUT, I am always embarrassed to discover how many hours I must waste watching kitten videos too. When Miley hasn't posted for a while, my feed is generally filled with kittens, half naked men (usually clutching kittens) and then memes about being drunk and ridiculous. Yikes.
Fern Ross, Associate Editor (Production):
Mine is three of my favourite things: yoga, cats and food. My Insta-handle is a bit of a giveaway, really.
Michelle Duguid, Senior Fashion Editor:
Magazine covers, cartoons (thanks to my son), healthy snacks, Liza Minelli and designer campaigns.
Debbie Morgan, Managing Editor:
Fitness and food!
Harriet Stewart, Market & Retail Editor:
Boobs and cakes, cactus, fashion still life, babies and bums.
Emma King, Deputy Chief Sub Editor:
So mine is just a load of memes about getting drunk, eating rubbishy food and being a general mess. Also – and I don't know why this isn't in the screenshot – there are usually pictures of Charlie Hunnam's butt because I joined a Sons of Anarchy fanpage and that's all they post. I'm not complaining but it is cringe.
Joely Walker, Beauty Editor:
Mine is food, food and more food. Also engagement rings (awkward as I am neither married nor engaged) and quite a lot of cute babies (hoping my boyfriend does not read this).
Lara Ferros, Picture Editor:
Motorbikes, animal videos, 70s cars and swimming pool accessories...not that I have one.
Roberta Hollis, Fashion Assistant:
Babies covered in cake, artistically topless women, plants, breakfast foods and interiors.
Felicity Kay, Fashion Assistant:
I really don’t understand my discover page, I mostly follow my friends and a few industry people. So I think the fact that my discover page includes a 'My Little Pony’ being crushed by a paper shredder, Phillip Schofield of ‘This Morning’ fame and a celling that looks like boobs, tells you all you need to know about my friends.
What's yours? Answers on a postcard (or the internet) @elleuk
