How do we save the world from Instagram 'influencers'? A new mural could help

Jack Wagner in front of his ‘special’ mural. Photograph: Like & Subscribe

The Eiffel Tower, Sydney Opera House, Singapore’s infinity pools, the street art of Shoreditch, São Paulo and Melbourne – scrolling through your Instagram feed can feel like Groundhog Day, with the same spots, in the same city, shot from a handful of angles, millions of times.

Blame “influencers”. As Instagram has become more popular, hotspots have emerged either organically or by design (see: San Francisco’s Museum of Ice Cream, built to look good on Instagram, but of questionable educational value, and the Rabbit Town “selfie theme park” in West Java, Indonesia).

The popularity of certain sites on Instagram has not only resulted in a one-note depiction of cities, but a potential hazard. The Indian state of Goa recently identified 24 “no-selfie zones” along its coastline after a spate of deaths and injuries of truly committed content generators.

A potential solution? A mural exclusively for the discerning social media personality.

On Tuesday, an Instagram-friendly mural of a pink heart and angel wings appeared in a parking lot on Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles – next to another winged mural already popular on social media. This one, however, was different, claimed its creator, Jack Wagner: “Influencers work so hard every day to curate beautiful feeds and inspire us all, we wanted to make something specifically for them. Most of the best murals in LA are already posted too often, which is why this mural is for verified influencers only (or people with more than 20k followers).”

An “armed security team”, he said, had been hired to “guard the mural” against those without the prerequisite blue tick.

very exciting day today folks. to celebrate the upcoming release of my new show @likeandsubscribe we created a beautiful instagramable mural designed specifically for influencers. influencers work so hard every day to curate beautiful feeds and inspire us all, we wanted to make something specifically for them. most of the best murals in LA are already posted too often, which is why this mural is for verified influencers only (or people with over 20k followers). We even hired an armed security team to guard the mural this week to make sure only verified influencers are able to take photos with the mural. this is something i thought influencers would appreciate but unfortunately a lot of them got very mad at this and only had bad things to say. we wanted this mural to capture the themes of positive vibes and love, apparently some people dont have enough of that in their lives. this mural is not about excluding anyone. we put alot of work into making this mural great and we just wanted to showcase it in the most curated way possible. great painters pick the best possible canvas for their masterpieces, we are doing the exact same thing but with accounts. if banksy were alive today i feel like he would do the exact same thing.

A post shared by Jack Wagner (@versace_tamagotchi) on Jun 25, 2018 at 8:45pm PDT

If Wagner’s words and oh-so-ironic Instagram handle – @versace_tamagotchi – didn’t make it clear, the mural is a stunt to promote his forthcoming video-streaming series, Like and Subscribe, described as a satire about internet fame.

Yet it angered those who took it literally, among them non-verified influencers and those who just loathe influencers. Like tourists, who have prompted a backlash across Europe, said influencers tend to mindlessly pack into one spot, often to the benefit of the economy but to the detriment of locals’ quality of life. Their presence encourages others to follow suit in search of pictures and likes, perpetuating the problem.

Perhaps Wagner is on to something – single out those who self-identify as influencers, and corral them into one spot where no one else would want to go. What’s not to like?