Were I to define the term ‘Instagram poetry’ I would describe it as instant, easy-to-digest and surface-level poetry that’s simple to read and go “huh, that’s pretty deep” as you continue your doomscrolling. But alas, trying to simplify something that takes time and thought to read and fully appreciate ultimately makes this medium of social-media poetry fall flat. 

Over the past few years, this simplistic genre of poetry has risen in popularity. It is understandable why poetry appeals to so many people; it is a medium accessible to anyone who has an understanding of language. 

Starting to emerge on platforms such as Tumblr and Facebook (which may be too old for some readers), the use of digital platforms to convey poetry and art has been an interesting evolution to say the least. While I do believe some good products can be produced, giving teenagers access to the internet to express their angst will understandably lead to some juvenile content (there is nothing inherently wrong with that!).

Unlike its sisters in the arts, you don’t need to spend money on an instrument or supplies and a canvas; poetry is something you can do anywhere, anytime, whether that be on your notes app at 4 AM or on the back of a receipt while you’re on your 30 minute lunch break at work. 

This accessibility combined with an appreciation of pretty language makes this medium of artistic expression popular. Not only is it an effective tool for letting creativity flow, but it can serve as an outlet to convey difficult emotions that can be hard to articulate otherwise. A good poem can do that effectively.

While “good” poetry remains very subjective, it takes some skill to write a poem that is thought-provoking or that describes emotion in an interesting way. What I am trying to say here is that narrowing it down to something short and rather lacking in substance is not only a disservice to the reader, but the writer as well, not allowing oneself a chance to dig deeper into thought and feeling by only scratching the surface. 

It is like a painting with no dimensions, or a song with no chorus.

If poetry could be condensed to just metaphorical prose alone then it would not hold the same value and appreciation that is granted by artists and scholars alike. Good poetry is clever, thought provoking and has depth, and if done right it can be done through simplistic means.

This trend of simplistic poetry arguably started with writer Rupi Kaur, who popularized this form of writing with her 2015 poetry collection, milk and honey. Digging out my copy that I purchased when I was 14, I can say that she is a vulnerable writer with few decent pieces. However, a lot of them seem to just be missing potential; not expanding on any thought provoking ideas or techniques to describe feeling. Most of these poems appear to only be sentences in a layered format. One notable poem is titleless (along with essentially every other in the book) using the metaphor of an art museum to convey the author’s internal and external beauty in comparison to a partner who had their eyes closed in said museum. 

“i am a museum full of art

but you had your eyes shut”

In theory, this is an interesting idea to work with, but the execution lacks much creativity or poetic conventions such as wordplay, punctuation, or a metaphor that goes anywhere. My description of the poem is very simplistic as there is no discussion to be had. It just is. I am not going to review Kaur’s work specifically though, as she is not the only person with this style. Many people have adopted this style of poetry, such as Gabbie Hanna, Angelina Jolie, and the persons whose art is the main reason that I’ve decided to write this article: TikTok and Instagram poet, Aliza Grace, who at the time of writing this has accumulated an astonishing following of 800k on TikTok. 

If you have read poetry from any of these authors, I’m sure you could notice a pattern, that being of empty simplicity and minimalist aesthetic when it comes to language, the lack of titling work, and undetailed sketches. If you are a fan of any of these poets, perhaps broadening your literary horizons may change your opinion on their work.

I find it interesting how this writer has blown up for, uh, writing sentences under the pretense of it being poetry. While it is subjective, it is absolutely not immune to criticism. Following in the same aesthetic vein as Kaur, Grace adopted the simplistic writing style with a minimalistic illustration to accompany her work.

When reading her work, I would describe the text that I’m reading as…sad sentences. Again, there is the possibility for potential, but they completely fall flat. One poem I found quite ‘unique’ yet was another nameless poem that went as:

“why does the girls 

you follow

on social media

make me hurt so bad

because i know

you would pick them

over me

if it came down to

that”

I will let you be the critic of that one.

It is strange to me that these poems are so popular. I suppose being universally relatable and easy to digest plays a factor, but the fact that it has migrated from Instagram to TikTok demonstrates a mass liking of things that lack quality. 

It is important to take into consideration that many people only follow her to mock her in the comments and make fun of her poetry, and I do not encourage that. While it is important to take into note where some of her following has come from, I do not think that it is an excuse to send hate or to bully someone. Being constructive and critical can be done in a supportive way that encourages artistic growth.

However, if I were in my politics class, I would claim that the popularity is due to consumerism and the consequences of the capitalistic infantilization of what we consume having no purpose, existing purely for the reason of being consumed. 

Social media, and TikTok especially, has been a big factor in shortening the attention span of all of its users with its format being adopted by essentially all other platforms does not help this case. We are accustomed to consuming things in fast, short chunks, mindlessly. 

Therefore, reading these quick and easy poems while scrolling during your lecture may give you a sense of consuming something profound and deep, but, try asking yourself this: How long did it take me to understand this poem? How long would it take me to write this poem? Perhaps your answer can determine the quality of what you have just read.

By supporting mediocre poetry and giving these writers a large platform, it further encourages little growth or support in terms of adding depth to their work. Thus, with the support of minimal effort, these poems are further encouraged to be mass produced leading to mass consumption.

These poems take a second to both read and understand, which brings me back to my point at the beginning: Their accessibility allows people to briefly read it amongst their doom-scrolling, and understand at a surface level, as well, there really isn’t much below the surface. I find this unfortunate, as poetry is one of my favourite forms of art as it is often like an emotional puzzle waiting to be solved. That is what makes it interesting and impressive, if it can cleverly convey something both explicitly and implicitly to the reader that allows multiple interpretations.

Could poetry be a dying art? Another subjective question, but to me it seems that way.