Long Instagram Posts

About

Long Instagram Posts, also known as Stretched Instagram Posts, refers to a bug that allowed Instagram users to post stretched-out photographs on the app in early May 2020.

Origin

The exact point of discovery of the bug is currently unknown. Starting on May 6th, 2020, multiple meme accounts on Instagram posted stretched-out images that took significantly longer to scroll through than the normal posts. For example, on May 7th, 2020, Instagram^[1] user big_chungles posted a 320 by 9462 pixel black rectangle, with the post gaining over 11,500 likes in twelve hours (shown below, left). On the same day, Instagram^[2] user bavid.basselhof made a Dimma-post that gained over 450 likes in eight hours (shown below, right).

A 31 by 1600 pixel Do You Love The Colour Of The Sky? meme^[9] gained particular popularity as apart of the trend.^[10][11]

Spread

On May 7th, the glitch was used by multiple popular meme accounts, including posts by salad.snake^[3] (over 37,400 likes), juicybignut^[4] (over 38,000 likes), yodaposting^[5] (over 15,300 likes) and others (examples shown below).

The rapid spread of the stretched posts on Instagram prompted reaction memes and inquiries about to make them. For example, a May 7th Be Like Bill meme by Instagram user igotzucc^[6] received over 8,400 likes in nine hours (shown below, left). A same-day HOW meme by goozrat^[7] gained over 900 likes in seven hours (shown below, right).

How-To Guide

The stretched images could be posted to Instagram by manually editing the desired image so that it's height was much larger than the width (an aspect ratio of up to at least 1:51); for example via Simple Image Resizer^[8] or other available apps and services. The edited image can be posted to Instagram without cropping, resulting in a stretched post.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References