such sweet nothing: the aesthetics of insta-poetry

Insta-poetry derives its name from Instagram - the platform where users share snapshots with their followers, developing a stiff scrolling thumb and crippling case of FOMO in the process. Since its 2012 inception, the app has allowed anyone with a smartphone to launch a career in toaster-hued photojournalism. With the rise of insta-poetry, hundreds more users are hitting post on their dreams of being Whitman incarnate. This presents a contradiction to how prose has been presented in digital spaces. In the past, online writing projects were undertaken on text-based platforms; i.e., your friend authors a NaNoWriMo blog, or your grandma types a novel-length Facebook status. A distinctly millennial genre, insta-poetry rose to prominence on trendy, image-sharing networks. Walls of words are a no-no; snappy, dressed-up couplets rake in the likes.

Insta-poets are motivated by their diverse experiences and artistic ‘visions’, expressing themselves as they see fit. That said, most selfie-age prose shares a few visual characteristics. Composition hardliners maintain that solid writing is contingent on content; an elegant cover means nothing if the plot is full of holes. Internet audiences, however, place a prime on ‘aesthetics.’ Knowing this, insta-poets typically establish and maintain a unique ‘theme’. Most present their work on a white, cream, or parchment background, cropped into square format. Adventurous designers employ pastel backdrops, their vaporwave palette evoking candy-tinted teen angst. The text itself can be presented in a ‘modern’ or ‘vintage’ font – choices range from sleek, bold Arial to grainy, lowbrow Courier. Line drawings, rendered in Adobe Illustrator, may decorate the margins. These sketches depict a familiar series of emblems: hands, bouquets, typewriters, and the occasional cigarette.

clockwise, from top left: exhibit a - the minimalist; exhibit b, vintage vibes; exhibit c - pastel prose; exhibit d; the illustrated instapoem

No matter their variance in font or hue, insta-poets share a commitment to minimal format. A departure from Shakespearean walls of dialogue, lines of text are spaced out at random, jagged intervals. Sentences jump from corner to corner, often lacking punctuation or capital letters – much like the ebbs and flows of an IM conversation. This focus on design may appear shallow and pretentious, but the influencers employing it are undeniably savvy. Insta-poets consistently appeal to their audience’s visual and verbal faculties, hooking the reader with a pretty image before they take in the text. Internet poets occupy the role of painter and wordsmith, decorating virtual canvases with eye-candy and evocative prose. As they make their bid for viral eloquence, insta-poets are attempting to prove that style and substance need not be mutually exclusive. Only time will tell if this floral-adorned, cursive-rendered balancing act remains successful.