Ever since Justin Bieber deleted his Instagram account two weeks ago, former followers — and the Facebook-owned service’s top execs — have likely been waiting with bated breath for the star to make his grand return.
Bieber, who is a pivotal draw to the service with nearly 80 million followers, first threatened to quit when fans objected to photos he was posting with a new girlfriend. Selena Gomez, Bieber’s ex-girlfriend — who happens to be a champion of the platform and Instagram’s most-followed user ever — then chimed in, commenting, “If you can’t handle the hate, then stop posting pictures of your girlfriend, lol — it should be special between you two only. Don’t be mad at your fans. They love you.” After a quick back-and-forth, Bieber promptly deactivated.
Shortly thereafter, when he traveled to London to perform at a music festival, Instagram execs reportedly prepared a spread of maple syrup and pancakes — a nod to his Canadian heritage — in order to butter him up and woo him back. While that ultimately ended up being a no-go, Bieber did reactivate his account this morning — but only temporarily. When he posted a photo of his new dog, Todd, fans momentarily began to rejoice, until he deactivated his account once again and set the record straight via Twitter: “Still no Instagram,” he wrote. “It was an accident.”
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The saga illustrates the inextricable link between social platforms and the stars that proliferate them. If a marquee influencer departs, for instance, then platform usage is theoretically bound to decline — though Bieber’s high-profile departure has certainly drummed up a significant amount of press. (And his return seems somewhat imminent given that he toyed with the idea of returning last week, suggestively tweeting, “Should I or shouldn’t I?”)
This isn’t the first time that Instagram has dealt with the defection of a high-profile user. In 2014, Rihanna left the service when Instagram disabled her account shortly after she posted several topless and bottomless photos — a move the company called a “mistake.” Following a six-month absence, Rihanna eventually returned to Instagram, and is still posting under the username badgalriri to this day.
