The Emergence of Literature on Social Media: An Analysis of Instapoetry and the New Generation of Female Poets

Abstract

[Abstract] My dissertation proposes a literary analysis of the new poetic subgenre of Instapoetry through close-reading analyses of selected works by Upile Chisala, Charly Cox, Nikita Gill, Rupi Kaur, and K. Y. Robinson. Since its inception, Instapoetry has been the target of criticism regarding the quality of the texts. However, I contend that Instapoets consciously and purposefully employ simple and accessible language in order to resonate with a broad audience, mainly with readers who have been historically excluded from poetry due to their ethnicity, gender, and social class (e.g. racialized, lower-middle class women). The study of Instapoetry begins by approaching the subgenre from a digital humanities perspective. The field, which originated almost 100 years ago, is still a controversial subject due to the lack of agreement between scholars regarding its definition and characteristics. However, considering that the discipline is closely intertwined with technology and the latter is in constant change, the digital humanities’ definition should remain open and revisable as a means of encompassing any new developments. Although the field is becoming more inclusive, incorporating historically ignored perspectives is still not enough. Therefore, digital humanists emphasize the pressing need to include more intersectional spaces and projects. Such inclusion would yield positive results: those that have been relegated to the margins can provide new approaches and introduce realities that had been overlooked (i.e. gendered, racialized, and queer experiences). Intersectional voices, spaces, and studies will only prove beneficial for the digital humanities, making the field more comprehensive and robust. Literature, like any other form of artistic expression, changes over the years; nonetheless, digital literature evolves at a greater pace. With this in mind, this PhD thesis focuses on digital literature, examining its emergence and development over the decades. From the first—and few—electronic works published in physical format, now there are millions of publications, since the literary field has moved to the online world. Even though social media is not a discipline, it is a central part of the theoretical framework of this project by virtue of its close relationship with digital literature. Thanks to the affordances of online platforms, individuals can upload their content anywhere, at no cost, and connect with virtually anyone. Bearing in mind that practitioners of digital literature want their works to be read and shared online, they seek potential readers on different digital platforms. Furthermore, in order to engage with their readership and reach a wider audience, they should adapt to the norms established on social media (e.g. adaptability, connectivity, and interaction), since a deviation from them could negatively impact their readership. As of 2025, there are three generations of digital literature, the third and last one being the most important for this essay. The third generation gives readers especial importance, because they play a vital role in disseminating the works. Writers publish their work on platforms with millions of users; nonetheless, that does not necessarily mean readers will engage with their pieces. Consequently, authors must learn how to experiment with the features provided by the different social networks so as to build engagement and expand their readership. Turning to poetry, the genre has evolved over the centuries, particularly in the last few decades regarding its creation and publication. The incorporation of technology into poetic production has allowed poets to integrate different forms and techniques, which has resulted in the emergence of new poetic subgenres. Such variety reveals the ever-evolving dynamics of literary production and dissemination, particularly in the digital age. Social media, as previously advanced, has a major role in this dissertation and is thus examined. Online platforms have been in constant transformation since their inception, trying to incorporate groundbreaking features. However, people access social media mostly to seek virtual connections, to feel that they belong to a community, and to obtain social recognition. Accordingly, users tend to express themselves in carefully crafted ways to connect with other members of the community that can relate to them. Their pursuit of interaction is key to understanding social media’s success, as it shapes the digital space where new literary forms and subgenres, such as Instapoetry, appear. Not only does online engagement reshape cultural production but also human interaction. As could be expected, the presence of social media in contemporary life impacts individuals both online and offline. On the one hand, online platforms facilitate connectivity between their members around the world, can be helpful as learning tools, and are beneficial for business. On the other hand, abusing social media has detrimental effects on users’ psychophysical health and on societies worldwide, especially during the current political polarization. However, online networks have become so ingrained in our daily lives that it is virtually impossible to understand them without social media. In addition, the diversity of their members is increasing, leading to the emergence of safe spaces for individuals worldwide who have been historically relegated to the margins. Building on this, women, and most notably racialized women, have turned to social media to engage in activism. In turn, they also participate in the fourth-feminist wave, which is marked by its reliance on social media. Apart from proliferating on online platforms, this new wave is also characterized by being entirely intersectional; it embraces every woman, regardless of their ethnicity, sexual orientation, social status, and gender identity, among other differences. Likewise, social media has been crucial regarding the emergence of new literary subgenres and movements. The democratization of online networks has allowed those belonging to minority groups to speak publicly and share their creations, avoiding rejections from publishing houses. As a result, now we can examine fanfic, Twitter fiction, and Instapoetry. Nonetheless, while fanfic and Twitter fiction consist of mainly fictional stories, Instapoetry tends to be autobiographical. In fact, it is the authenticity of Instapoets’ compositions that makes them attractive for readers. Through their works, poets build an online space that allows them to share their experiences and emotions, and, simultaneously, their profiles become supportive online communities for their readers, as they feel free to express themselves in the comments section. Outside social media, other literary forms that share some characteristics with Instapoetry are young adult fiction, self-help literature, and flarf poetry. Their common attributes include the range of topics addressed (e.g. identity, mental health, and trauma), the introspection of the compositions, and the challenging of literary norms. Additionally, similarly to Instapoetry, young adult fiction, self-help literature, and flarf poetry have also become popular literary expressions, regardless of the negative academic reception. Accordingly, to comprehend Instapoetry’s success, I draw parallels between the online subgenre and the other literary forms. The similarities demonstrate how Instapoetry draws from and transforms existing traditions, adapting them to the online world. Even though such characteristics are fundamental in understanding the subgenre’s success, attention should be paid to its public reception. In this vein, Instapoetry is approached from a reception studies perspective. As scholars in the field (e.g. Stanley Fish, Wolfgang Iser, and Hans Robert Jaus) center on the readers rather than on the text itself, such an approach helps shed light on the subgenre’s popularity. While the meaning of the texts is important, through this lens, the focus is on what readers understand and feel after reading the lyrical pieces; they are the ones that bring the text to life. Turning to the form of Instapoems, they are frequently short, usually comprising less than ten verses. Notwithstanding, this characteristic is not unique to the subgenre. Haiku poetry, the Imagist movement, and the poetry of Emily Dickinson are examples included in this dissertation to demonstrate the existence of short lyrical compositions throughout the centuries that have been widely acclaimed. The movements, subgenres, and even personal style dictate the characteristics that poets must follow; thus, they adapt the length of their work to adhere to the requirements and to successfully express the emotions they seek to evoke in their readers. Through the succinctness of their compositions, poets aim to convey intensity by paying attention to a particular image or feeling. Nevertheless, in some cases, brevity simply reveals a commitment to linguistic economy. Regarding Instapoetry, its succinctness stems from an attempt to fit into the social platform’s limitations and, perhaps most importantly, to draw the attention of online readers. Apart from the shortness of compositions, Instapoetry is also characterized by its rejection of fixed patterns, capitalization, and punctuation. Once again, such features are not exclusive to the subgenre, as previous poetic forms and movements have also experimented with the structure of the poems. Amy Lowell, Diane di Prima, and Walt Whitman are included in this dissertation to demonstrate that renowned poets have likewise incorporated innovative structures in their work and earned critical recognition. In the case of Instapoetry, the importance of aesthetics together with the platform’s restrictions have influenced the length of the lyrical pieces; the form is secondary. Coming back to the authenticity and introspection of the Instapoems, the subgenre shares relevant attributes with the confessional movement: for both, content is of greater significance than form, and they have written about taboo topics from a feminist perspective. Female Instapoets have inherited the confessional tradition, reshaped its mode for the digital realm, and, perhaps most importantly, shown that the urge to write about personal struggles is a constant feature across generations of women poets. Lastly, the Instapoets of the present study seem to be guided by ecofeminist principles, as nature is a recurrent element in the digital subgenre. For ecofeminists such as Val Plumwood and Ynestra King, nature is not just a passive element but a source of empowerment and a tool to dismantle patriarchy. The incorporation of natural elements in Instapoetry serves two main purposes: they express personal struggles and celebrate Instapoets’ identities, as they belong to minorities traditionally excluded from the art world. Instapoets do not only write about personal topics, but some of them also retell, from a feminist perspective, myths and fairy tales. Following the steps of Margaret Atwood and Olga Broumas, the new generation of poets offer a different perspective of princesses and Greek female characters, allowing them to voice their own versions of events. Over the centuries, folklore has consistently placed women in an inferior position to men; they are mere beautiful damsels in distress passively waiting to be saved by Prince Charming. In response to this situation, feminists have turned their attention to the experiences of women. In their feminist retellings, female characters are powerful intelligent women, capable of saving themselves and others, and have their own agency. After explaining the theoretical framework and Instapoetry’s formal characteristics, I focus on the literary analysis of a selection of Instapoems. The analyses have been divided into the following thematic blocks: diaspora and immigration, racism, the beauty canon, gender violence, mental health, and politics. The subchapters not only provide a formal analysis of the lyrical pieces, but they also draw parallels with the realities of contemporary society, since Instapoets use their art to denounce and shed light on social issues. The first block, diaspora and immigration, includes the works of Upile Chisala and Rupi Kaur. The Instapoems offer a unique perspective of the lived experiences of displaced individuals. “boat,” by Kaur, depicts forced displacement from the point of view of someone compelled to flee their country; “leaving her country,” also by Kaur, immerses the reader in the mind of a child witnessing their mother’s homesickness. In this same block, Chisala’s “sadly” examines displaced subjects’ endeavors to maintain a connection with their homeland, emphasizing the significance of food for those living in a foreign country; in “broken english,” Kaur portrays her parents’ migratory journey from India to Canada, depicting their expectations before coming to the country that contrast with the harsh reality they encountered. Finally, “May This Poem Meet You In Your Language,” by Chisala, pays homage to the sacrifices and struggles that displaced mothers endure in order to provide a better life for their children. As either children of displaced people or displaced subjects themselves, Chisala and Kaur convey in short pieces the struggles of those forced to leave behind the familiarity of their home countries. The second thematic block focuses on the representation of racism on Instapoetry. The works that comprise this subchapter have been written by Upile Chisala, Nikita Gill, and K. Y. Robinson. Chisala’s “too many earth-toned men and women” and Robinson’s “open season” can be read as a denunciation of both institutional racism and police brutality, which primarily affects the Black community. In turn, Chisala’s “Let Black Girls Be” and Gill’s “Your Own Skin” focus specifically on the gendered racism suffered by Black and Brown women, respectively. As racialized women living in predominantly white societies, the three Instapoets celebrate their own and their communities’ (dark) skin color and acknowledge the beauty and worth of their readers’ complexion. The beauty canon is studied in the next subchapter. In this case, the Instapoems selected have been written by Charly Cox and Rupi Kaur. “stuff” and “filters,” both published by Cox, provide an exploration of body image, self-perception, and the pressures that social media has imposed on women so that they pursue an idealized, unrealistic self. While Cox’s Instapoems may encompass every woman, Kaur’s lyrical pieces, “a never-ending search” and “my issue with what they consider beautiful,” are written from the perspective of a racialized woman living in a white racist society; thus, they harshly criticize the Western beauty canon. Both Cox and Kaur articulate the struggles of millions of women worldwide, for whom conforming to the prevailing beauty ideal is often impossible. The next thematic block revolves around gender violence, as Upile Chisala, Nikita Gill, and Rupi Kaur write about its different manifestations. Gill’s “The Word is Girl” focuses on how boys and girls are socialized differently on the basis of their gender, perpetuating gender roles. Chisala’s “Small Violences and Other Lies” demonstrates that violence can be non- physical through the depiction of a toxic romantic relationship. Finally, “home,” by Kaur, describes the personal healing journey of the speaker after being sexually assaulted. The three Instapoets bring to public light ignored and taboo issues, such as sexist behaviors, abusive relationships, and the different types of violence to which women are subjected. Mental health is addressed in the next subchapter through the works of Charly Cox and K. Y. Robinson. “funny” and “a voice I know,” by Cox, address depressive and anxiety disorders, respectively, while “manic depression,” by Robinson, focuses on bipolar disorder. As people who have struggled, and are still struggling, with mental disorders, both Instapoets render their emotions and experiences into poetry. Accordingly, they might help their readers acknowledge and confront their own conditions, contribute to the destigmatization of mental disorders, and validate their readers’ experiences. The last thematic block centers on politics, as Instapoetry can be a tool for political resistance, social criticism, and collective empathy. In “And every dead child is my child,” “Trump,” and “Always Been America,” by Nikita Gill, Charly Cox, and K. Y. Robinson, respectively, the Instapoets engage with power dynamics and social injustices—e.g. gender and racial oppression. They demand accountability, particularly from politicians, but also from regular people. Even though they address specific topics taking place in particular regions, they show that such issues are real and urgent, as they affect millions of people. Thus, not only do they shed light on current social problems, but they also call for action across social classes, genders, and ethnicities. After the literary analysis of the Instapoems, this dissertation turns to the role of both writers and readers, as online publishing has led to the appearance of two new hybrid identities: the author-influencer and the reader-fan. As young women who have grown up with the emergence and evolution of social media, Instapoets have learned how to use digital networks for their own benefit as writers. Furthermore, they have also adapted to Instagram’s evolving features to expand their readership. As a result, they have positioned themselves not only as writers but also as influential people. Conversely, reader-fans are a direct result of the emotional resonance of Instapoets’ words. Reader-fans are not mere readers; they are deeply invested fans who feel noticed and understood. Thus, the emotional connection between creators and consumers strengthens their relationship and contributes to the subgenre’s success. As previously mentioned, Instapoets have taken advantage of their knowledge of the digital platform to thrive as poets. Consequently, once Instagram introduced video-sharing features, Charly Cox, Nikita Gill, and Rupi Kaur incorporated audiovisual content into their profiles. While Cox and Gill integrated music, videos, and voiceovers into their posts to add a new dimension to their poetry, Kaur opted to upload footage taken from her live performances instead of creating new content specifically for social media. Regardless of their strategies, they have proven that emotional connections with their readers can also be achieved beyond the written word. Even though Instapoetry consists mostly of lyrical pieces, some Instapoets, such as Charly Cox and K. Y. Robinson, have incorporated prose writings in their poetry collections. Therefore, the thesis includes a literary analysis of two prose compositions, “body part 1,” by Cox, and “fermented,” by Robinson. Although the short texts address previously explored topics—the beauty canon and gender violence—the chapter aims to examine Cox’s and Robinson’s versatility in approaching different genres without losing the emotional sensitivity they transmit in their poems. Once content is published on Instagram, it is impossible to predict whether readers will merely enjoy it, be inspired by it, or appropriate it. With the popularization of social media, infringing copyright and plagiarizing have become easier than ever. Regarding Instapoetry, it is a difficult task to discern between inspiration and blatant copy. In fact, despite the lack of clear evidence, Rupi Kaur has been accused of plagiarizing some of her peers. Hence, cases like Kaur’s spark controversy and contribute to the debates surrounding plagiarism and (lack of) originality in contemporary online literature. Apart from sharing their written work on social media, Instapoets may also upload professional photographs of themselves and use the platform as an advertising tool. Therefore, Nikita Gill, Rupi Kaur, and K. Y. Robinson mainly share posts focused on their work. In turn, Upile Chisala and Charly Cox adopt a more casual approach: they alternate excerpts of their work with glimpses of their personal lives. Whichever approach they take, Instapoets are aware of the power of social media on literary visibility. Accordingly, they are (usually) active on social media in order to keep their readers engaged and informed of their current and upcoming projects. Finally, the last chapter of the thesis centers on Instapoets’ merchandise production. Besides their poetry collections, the poets have also customized T-shirts, tote bags, and stationery, to name a few examples, as part of a collaboration, with a charitable purpose, or because of a financial opportunity. Except for Upile Chisala, the other Instapoets included in this project have become involved with the world of merchandise in different ways. As a result, by selling different products, Instapoets have transformed Instapoetry into a lifestyle marker and a form of everyday advertising, which, in turn, demonstrates how it is closely associated with consumer culture. Since its beginnings, Instapoetry has been the target of criticism, as it has been deemed artless and shallow, particularly from academic circles. However, it has not prevented the subgenre from being successful, mainly among young female readers. Through a thorough analysis of a selection of works by Upile Chisala, Charly Cox, Nikita Gill, Rupi Kaur, and K. Y. Robinson, this PhD dissertation aims at demonstrating that Instapoetry is a legitimate literary manifestation deserving of academic attention.