No living person is behind the most followed account on Instagram. Officially, the company itself has the most followers at 84 million, but thatâs kind of a given. Similar to Tom on Myspace, Instagram users automatically follow account when they join. Itâs up to you to unfollow them if you want. But after that the most followed people on Instagram are for some very famous names.
What follows are the top 20 most followed Instagram accounts (after @Instagam, of course).
If you enjoy travel fails (that arenât your own, of course), this Insta account exposes the grossest, most inexplicable behaviors seen by flight attendants and other crew members around the world. Theyâve even helpfully collected the most awful entries on a bingo card, with spots for bare feet, unflushed toilets and passengers in, shall we say, inappropriate attire. If youâve ever been stuck next to a seat hog, youâll chuckle in knowing recognition â and if not, consider this a warning of what might await you on your next flight.
The same compulsive honesty and quirky humor that make the Girls creator so interesting (and divisive) are on full view in her Instagram account. Amid the usual photos of her dog, boyfriend (Bleachersâ Jack Antonoff) and besties â normal Insta stuff â are more candid shots, like a close-up of a potentially suspicious mole and photos from the set of her HBO show. Itâs a behind-the-scenes look into the life of one of pop cultureâs most compelling young voices â one whoâs also not afraid of using her fame to amplify causes she holds dear, like reproductive rights, Instagram commenters be damned.
When the rap queen said âInstagram, another flawless picâ on BeyoncĂ©âs âFlawless (Remix),â she wasnât kidding. Every photo Nicki Minaj shares is as perfect as she promises, showing off her impeccable fashion sense, pristine make-up and enviable lifestyle. Minaj has proven that she has a keen sense of her own fandom, posting the many memes that have been made of her and her lyrics, including several hilarious remakes of her âAnacondaâ cover art.
Photo blogger Brandon Stanton has become one of the Internetâs best-known shutterbugs thanks to his ongoing street-portrait series. His loosely posed shots of strangers he encounters on the sidewalks of New York City, each paired with a quote from the subject, offer surprising insights into everyday lives. Sometimes itâs an old couple cuddling on a park bench, or a bricklayerâs hands, or a mystery man in a bizarre headdress; always, thereâs more to the story than meets the eye.
16. @officerpatrickcarney
Black Keys drummer Pat Carney is known for having a somewhat odd and totally brilliant sense of humor, and @officerpatrickcarney confirms as much. His Instagram is populated with demented amateur re-imaginings of Carney as Kim Kardashian, Charles Manson and Judge Judy rocking Google Glass and sassy pics of Vanilla Ice in his Nineties finery. There are also police sketches, clowns and lots and lots of Jello molds thrown in for good measure.
A backstage look at how the most consistently unpredictable comedy program of the past 40 years gets made, Saturday Night Liveâs Instagram offers a sometimes hilarious, often earnest look at every episode. More than 40 pictures chronicled this seasonâs Scarlett Johansson-hosted installment, documenting the side-stage makeup table the night before,Bobby Moynihan eating a bagel on the day of the show, the wig department, Kate McKinnon getting into her full Bieber getup, characters mid-broadcast, Wiz Khalifa in action and much more.
As much as we enjoy being inspired, titillated and amused by Instagram, there are some times when we just want one thing: cute animal photos, and lots of them. For that, look no further than the Cats and Dogs of Instagram accounts, with each one offering a wonderfully curated feed of nothing more than, well, cat and dog photos.
It is a universally acknowledged truth that a single man in possession of a Tinder account must be a creep. And the gents whose missives are submitted to Tinder Nightmares (which became popular enough to garner a book deal) make Mr. Darcy seem like the sweetest guy in the world: terrible pick-up lines, gross sexual requests and weirdly brutal honesty are all par for the course.
@classicwrestling essentially powerbombs your Instagram feed with images of the greatest and most demented characters from the sportâs history. What could be better than absentmindedly scrolling through post after post of your next-door neighborâs new cockapoo, only to be confronted with a pic of, say, a frenzied, green-haired Doink the Clown attempting to rip Bret âThe Hitmanâ Hartâs leg from his body with his signature Stump Puller finisher?
 11. @thatlookslikeadick
Just what you think it is (unless you think itâs men named Richard or members of the Tea Party). Bless Instagram for un-banning this site, which was clearly the only reasonable thing to do considering that these images â of mustaches, bruises, scabs, cat tails, pantyhose runs, gum bubbles, ice flows, excrement, latticework, cigarette smoke, rocket exhaust, cacti, and all manner of landscape â canât help their resemblance to the male twig and its accompanying berries.
With tongue firmly in cheek, the Star Wars feed features a lively mix of set photos from the old days, impressive fan creations and nerd-baiting glimpses into whatâs going on behind the scenes in the upcoming movie. And who doesnât love a nice throwback Lando?
Actor/part-time pro wrestler extraordinaire Dwayne âThe Rockâ Johnson is like the Tony Little you always wish you had. If being up at 5 a.m. every morning to make your thighs look like this leads to photo ops like this and shares in the biggest box-office hits of this millennium, suddenly hashtag mantras Ă la #JustGottaGoWithIt seem more inspirational than insipid. But mostly, itâs just fun to live through this guy â whoâs both enjoying and paining-and-gaining through his profile as one of pop cultureâs most entertaining and prolific performers â in pictures.
Living a life that falls somewhere between a teenage boyâs fantasy and that of a James Bond villain, Dan Bilzerian has attracted nearly 10 million Instagram followers by flaunting his wealthy bad-boy exploits. A professional poker player who describes himself as a millionaire, playboy and âsexual philanthropistâ Bilzerian loves to show off his expensive cars, mountains of cash, âcrowd-raftingâ escapades at Steve Aoki concerts and pricey watches.
The iconoclast British graffiti artist may have dabbled in gallery shows and filmmaking, but his true canvas remains the streets, walls and doorways of cities around the world. And Banksyâs Instagram is the simplest way to keep up with his latest pieces â and maybe even to seek them out in person before some jerk whitewashes them. His visually loaded works are posted with no more information than their city or neighborhood. Last year he was hard at work in New York, leaving the Upper West Side a destructive shadow child and Queens a deathly Sphynx. Most recently, his haunting images have been spotted in Gaza.
For sheer wow factor, the official Instagram of outer space takes the cosmic cake. NASA does a stellar job of reminding us how awe-inspiring life, the universe and everything is with jaw-dropping photos captured by the various spacecraft weâve sent out into the vacuum. And the shots sure as hell put things in perspective, running the gamut from distant galaxies photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope to stunning images of Earth snapped by astronauts in orbit â absolutely no filters necessary.
BeyoncĂ© pays as close attention to the visuals associated with her work as her music, so itâs no wonder that Instagram is the social-media platform sheâs taken to updating regularly. Her account is a gorgeous stream of her lavish vacations, sweet family life and favorite things alongside subtle announcements about her career and public image. For many, a simple video she posted with the caption âSurprise!â was the first indication that she had dropped a new album on iTunes. And who else can send the web into a fervor by previewing her outfit for an event before she even shows up to the red carpet, like she did for the 2015 Met Gala?
Even the most relaxed travelers might experience pre-flight anxiety after looking through the Transportation Security Administrationâs account. Most of the feed is devoted to photos of the items the TSA has confiscated from luggage at various airports â and the only proper reaction to it is WTF?!? The items go beyond full-size bottles of shampoo; weâre talking about a hatchet and brass knuckles, loaded handguns, live eels and a shocking number of batarangs. And thatâs just the stuff the TSA actually catches. Itâs utterly fascinating, and â if weâre being honest â a little terrifying.
There were six months of darkness in the world when Rihanna quit Instagram following the brief suspension of her account for posting photos from a topless magazine spread. But then BadGalRiRi returned stronger and badder than ever, giving us the unapologetically cool pics that make her account so legendary. Rihannaâs canât-give-a-fuck realness is singular. From vacation shots to party photos to endless âgrams of her infant cousin Majesty, the singer has her 19 million followers wrapped around her finger.
National Geographicâs visuals have been the stuff of photography legend for nearly a century, making the magazineâs Instagram the primo destination for virtual globetrotting. Photos from all over the world remind you just how damn busy and beautiful the planet is on any given day. One spring Sunday alone gave glimpses into a candlelit dinner in Laos, eagles hanging out with lions in Botswana, protesters in Baltimore and an Inuit hunter near the Arctic Circle. And to think, all you did was eat brunch.
Kim Kardashianâs Instagram presence is so legendary that she was able to publish a successful book filled with her selfies. Of course, the cheaper alternative to purchasing Selfish is to endlessly scroll through images of Kim living the glamorous life we canât help but keep up with. Whether sheâs being cute with husband Kanye West, showing love for her equally famous sisters, promoting her addicting video game or cropping her daughter North out of photos.
The Top 20 Instagram Accounts Of 2015 No living person is behind the most followed account on Instagram. Officially, the company itself has the most followers at 84 million, but thatâs kind of a given.