Kate Upton has only been on Instagram for about a week and she’s only posted a handful of photos. For most people, that would add up to a few dozen followers at most. But for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model, that number sits just shy of 500,000.
Upton started her Instagram account last Wednesday and she already has 468,332 followers. Sure, the model was able to boost those numbers with the help of her 1.27 million followers but attracting close to a half million people on a new network in less than a week is still pretty impressive.
Of course, it helps when you can post images like this.
Upton’s popularity is undeniable but some people still don’t understand what all of the hullabaloo is about.
Former model Carol Alt said: “What I don’t understand with Kate Upton is what’s all the hullaballoo … There are many covers of Sports Illustrated. One girl was just wearing a bottom, no top. I don’t get what all the hullabaloo is. I think what it is is that in this moment there’s just so much social media and that’s why she’s had more word of mouth than anybody.”
And Alt is right. In fact, Upton is referred to by some as the world’s first social media model. The voluptuous blonde was discovered while sitting court side at an NBA game and she was able to use her viral fame to launch an extremely successful modeling career. She now has more than 1.27 million Twitter followers, more than 1.3 million Facebook fans, and in the last week she’s nearly earned ahalf million Instagram followers.
Alt added: ”I like Kate, she’s a pretty girl … But all the girls are nice, and all the girls are pretty. Every cover, to me, deserves to be talked about.”
So what makes Upton different? Why are people talking about her covers and not Bar Refaeli’s or Tyra Banks?’ Maybe it’s simply because Upton’s are the most recent. The young model graced the cover in 2012 and 2013. She was replaced this year by Nina Agdal, Lily Aldridge and Chrissy Teigen but she did land the flip cover.
“@SI_Swimsuit: ICYMI: @KateUpton nabs 2014 SI Swimsuit Issue flip-side cover! https://t.co/JUVG6eyUKE #SISwim50pic.twitter.com/pAPnZfG8P5”!!!!
— Kate Upton (@KateUpton) February 19, 2014
I’ll admit that the world is a little obsessed with Kate Upton. She’s beautiful, funny, and smart but she isn’t the only girl that possesses those qualities. So what’s with all of the hullabaloo?
Take the photo below, for instance. That’s just the back of the Kate Upton’s head, right? It’s blurry. There are a bunch of hands going all over the place. The lighting is terrible… So why does it have more than 7000 likes?
Why does this photo have 18,000 likes? Why do hundreds of people ask to marry her on every single photo she posts?
The fact is that Kate Upton knows what her audience wants. Upton said: ”It’s like any job. You find your strengths and play them up … I understand why my male followers like me.”
The hullabaloo surrounding Kate Upton is both inexplicable and undeniable. The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model probably doesn’t even know why the world is obsessed with her. But does it matter? What we do know is that Upton can post 8 photos on Instagram and gain close to a half million followers in a week. That’s an average of about 60,000 followers per post.
You may not be able to explain the hullabaloo surrounding Kate Upton. But you certainly can’t deny it either.
(via Indy Posted)
