As much as the social media landscape is turning into a battlefield for influencers, or those who have learned to navigate and manipulate the 30-second attention spans that keep on reducing, one thing that remains constant on reels and in real life is the undeniable popularity and love for pets. The death of Tucker Budzyn, the viral golden retriever, earlier this month proved that Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok are all still very much a professional playground for our furry and scaly friends as they are for humans.
Among the most popular of them all is Doug (@dougthepug), a pug with 3.4 million followers on Instagram alone. Doug has won two People’s Choice Awards and was once named the internet’s second most influential pet by Forbes magazine. Doug has met celebrities like Dolly Parton on the red carpet, besides Billie Eilish, Shakira and Justin Bieber, among others, all of whom have been documented and pinned on the top of his Instagram account. Some of these pets have special skills that add to their repertoire that the owners can leverage to curate their content, while others gain their fan following simply by being cute.
Maple was the musical one—a rescue dog who went viral, known as @maplethepup on social media. His fans remain true even after her passing several years ago. Maple belonged to a guitarist who goes by @AcousticTrench, and the border collie-golden retriever mix would sit next to the guitar while his owner played, sometimes even stepping in as percussionist. The news of his passing was shared and reshared for days following the Instagram announcement in 2018.
Manyu is another such example, a Japanese Mame Shiba Inu famous for his luxe lifestyle. He is filmed amid various spa sessions administered by his owner, and followers like to watch him enjoy the treatments drowsily as he is laid on a pristine white towel and pampered into a slumber with ASMR audio on a daily basis.
Among Indian-origin pet influencers, Kittu the mouse (@kittu_ki_duniya14) with 42.8K followers has gained a lot of favour and attention. Kittu’s owner Shivani Chauhan has garnered him this whopping following by posting daily reels and regular posts of his mundane activities like sleeping, eating, hoarding snacks, or other functions that a domesticated mouse might engage in. Dogs, both pedigree and ‘indies’ or street rescues, that have taken the Instagram audience by storm include the golden retriever, Oscar (@oscarthewonderpup), Yana (@yanathelabrador), a white lab with collaborations from various pet care brands under her belt, and Tingu (@tinguthefosterfail), a rescued indie who entertains his audiences with his adventures outdoors, among others.
All of their social media accounts have a huge number of followers. Nala the cat (@nala_cat), a Siamese and tabby mix, is the Guiness World Record holder for the cat with the highest following on social media, with a whopping 4.2 million on Instagram, and more across other platforms. Originally a shelter cat, adopted at four months, Nala is now the ambassador as well as the ‘chief inspiration officer’ at Love Nala, a cat food brand started by her owners based in California. Her instagram account name has been officially trademarked by her owners as well.
Meanwhile, an Afghan hound named Samantha (@afghanhoundinthecity) is something of a fashion icon on Instagram. Her Instagram feed is a tasteful one, with her draped in designer clothes, shades and scarves, posing in front of luxe backgrounds. With a following of 240K, she has been dubbed the internet’s ‘most fashionable dog’, and has been covered by a number of fashion magazines including Outlander and Vogue, among others.
Samantha, the Afghan hound, has also posed and shot advertorial content for the beauty and cosmetics brand Sephora (UK). Nearly every year, new pets with newer idiosyncrasies join this roster of pet influencers. Web magazines with social media presence release lists and rankings for the most popular pet accounts of the year, encouraging more of a trend around building social media personas for animals. A trend that has only been growing, with well-groomed, photogenic pets now standing to pose an opportunity for their owners as well — be it social media popularity or business.