Oliver Brindle picks out Blocks magazine’s Instagram Spotlight pics each month. Here, he explains how he accesses the LEGO fan community via Instagram and shares some tips for finding like-minded fans on the platform.
Did you know there are currently over 17 million posts on Instagram using #lego? The official @lego account has 6.4 million followers. These statistics can tell you that there are a lot of LEGO fans using Instagram, which isn’t surprising as it’s a great platform for sharing LEGO content.
I first made an account around two years ago as a place to share MOCs I’d built, but at the time I had no idea if there were any other LEGO fans on Instagram. I soon discovered that there’s a massive community on the app, with many other types of content. There are some fantastic builders on there like @chubbybots and @hachiroku92. Similar to them are the customisers, both purist (like @flo4real_ and @bdlegocustoms) and painted (like @hoodie.studios and @kaiju_dan). There are also photographers, like @supa_dupa_lego_troopa, @bricks_of_thempire and @biggus_brickus, who take some incredible photos. Discovering LEGO photography was a huge revelation for me personally, and I started to work on my photography and photo editing skills and began posting more frequently.
I began to learn the hashtags that got my posts seen by more people, and through comments on my posts I started to interact with other TFOLs and AFOLs on the app. That’s when I realised Instagram isn’t just pictures. You can text and make group chats with other fans through the app. I’m in a few groups, some for general conversation about LEGO and post ideas, others were specifically created for collaborations with other accounts where we would each make a different custom minifigure in our own style to form part of a wider theme. It’s also possible to shout out other people and share links to their posts on your story, bringing more attention to underrated content. If you do that though, it’s important to include the original poster’s @name to give them credit.
Whether you’re in a group chat or not, there’s still lots of opportunities for conversation and collaboration with other people. For example, the official LEGO account used the hashtag #buildtogive for people to showcase their Christmas ornament builds, with LEGO committing to donate one LEGO set to charity for each post. It now has over 16,000 posts.
I started the hashtag #wewantlegohomer, which people have been using for Ancient Greek customs, and that has led to conversations with other fans of both LEGO and Greek mythology, showing that no matter how niche your figures, builds or photography are, there are other people on the app with the same interests.
Of course, there are many different types of content out there. I’ve talked a lot about the customisers, but there are also competitions and challenges for builders and photographers – for example @brickcentral starts a different photography competition each month, and there are loads of MOC contests out there. There’s something for everyone on the app, whether you want to see amazing posts, get tips on how to improve your own builds or talk to other LEGO fans.
Follow Oliver on Instagram @the_lego_loft.
To get Blocks every month – at a discount and earlier than the shops – order a 12-month or 24-month subscription. Direct debit payment options are available too; to find out more get in touch via subs@silverbackpublishing.rocks.