How often should someone post on Instagram? Once a day? A few times per week? Only when something new and notable happens? Fans of Justin Bieber know all too well the pain and glory of watching their fave post several times in a day — with a notable stretch in 2017 where he posted 25 times in an hour. While the singer’s haphazard approach to Instagram may once have been a charming quirk that let an adoring public know that it was really him and not a social-media manager, behind his iPhone camera, that strategy — if it is one — now appears erratic and concerning as his behavior sours both on and offline. This past weekend, Bieber wrote, “Love you moms but mothers day sucks ass” on his wife’s first-ever Mother’s Day, only to delete and recant with a series of emoji (and a song from PARTYNEXTDOOR titled, uh, “Resentment”) and video of surprising Hailey with a mariachi band. Was he trolling or earnest or a secret third thing?
Bieber’s Instagram has been a point of fascination over the past few months as the singer’s general behavior appears to be slipping into something concerning, if not dangerous. In January, fans noticed that Bieber had unfollowed Hailey (he said someone went on his account and unfollowed her) and in April, fans noticed that Hailey had unfollowed him (she said it was a glitch). The latter incident occurred a few days after the singer went live on Instagram listening to music, while commenters wondered aloud, “bro what are you doing?” in between hearts and the odd Brazilian flag. Even on more innocuous posts, fans will liken his posting behavior to Britney Spears or Kanye West. In person, he’s had a string of unpredictable outbursts: appearing drunk or high (or both) at events, confronting paparazzi, and firing longtime employees, friends, and collaborators. What press coverage there’s been of Bieber’s past few months applies a sheen of faux concern for the singer. Former collaborator Poo Bear told The Hollywood Reporter that he’s “praying” for Bieber and hopes the singer is okay.
Whether or not Justin is okay hasn’t stopped him from posting, not for more than a day or two. His feed is full of his usual content types: Notes App musings, animal pictures with long-winded captions, wife appreciation, photos from the studio, golfing, the Toronto Maple Leafs, his ugly couch, a few friends, and colorways for his new brand, SKYLRK. His fans show concern through love: Comments on nearly every post tell the singer that those who love him are hoping he is doing well, they’re happy to see him smiling, they support him if he wants to leave Los Angeles. Whether or not Bieber is crashing out, the comparisons to both Spears and West feel particularly apt: Both stars appear to have free reign over their social-media accounts and post whatever they like with a flagrant lack of concern for how it may or may not affect their public reputation. Nothing Bieber posts is so abnormal in theory were it not for the volume at which he posts through it. Like Spears and West, he is prone to fits of rampant posting, even if it means sharing the same thought (or image) more than once or even twice or five times. West is a provocateur, trying unfailingly to upset those who read him, but for Bieber and Spears, it’s not always clear who their audience is when they go off on a posting rampage. When Spears posts several dead-eyed dancing videos in a row, it calls to mind Bieber’s now-infamous “my left eye has conjunctivitis” series. Does he actually know that it’s something of a faux pas to post the same thing multiple times in a row? Does he care?
In recent posts, Bieber insists that he is fine through the content of his images. In selfies and studio sessions, he’s either smiling or locked in. He spams the grid with photos of new shoes and sunglasses for SKYLRK. He is eager to prove that he’s working, and anything else is incidental to the Bieber his audience knows and loves. Even his more text-based posts focus on self-awareness and self-improvement. “I got anger issues too, but I wanna grow and not react so much,” he wrote in a March post. The posts he’s made in the past several months do, however, feel like reactions. Even his Mother’s Day retread is a response — to his own hastiness or callousness in slamming a holiday he was otherwise celebrating. He is both damage and damage control, laying down railroad tracks as the train comes barreling along. Bieber’s star persona is reflexive: He is a sensitive celebrity, prone to adjustment and overcorrection, and unbearably self-conscious. Whereas his boyhood pop-star image sat on a foundation of lust and yearning, with songs like “Baby” and “Boyfriend,” his adult career is a giant mea culpa, kicking off with his career-best Purpose — featuring undeniable banger “Sorry” — into his more recent work that samples Martin Luther King Jr. on a track. He wants us to know that he wants to be better.
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Like Bieber, Spears also argues on behalf of her own wellness on Instagram. “I took the video of myself dancing down because so many people said so many mean things … if they only knew how severe my sadness is. It is a fucking miracle from God that I played and danced, period,” Spears wrote in an Instagram caption at the end of last year. Compare that to how Bieber addresses his own mental-health journey, with the singer writing: “I would find myself even subconsciously blaming God for the bad feeling I woke up with rather than communicate with him and ask him to help me have a change of perspective. I’ve been really asking God to help me see the best in people. Even after being used in the way I have.”
Sharing comments like these on Instagram can feel — similar to the volume of his posting — like he’s flooding the market. It’s not clear whether he’s communicating to his fans or the industry or his loved ones, or some combination of all. While his fans chime in with encouragement on nearly every post, they’ve also cautioned him to back away from posting (and to stop smoking weed). When he deletes an Instagram Story about Mother’s Day, we don’t know if it’s because of fan outcry or personal embarrassment or someone near to him speaking up. Before the silence can linger too long, another post appears, sometimes related but often not.
Bieber is no stranger to scrutiny, and his Instagram has long been the only way he lets the world into his life. To scroll through what he shows us is to see what we’ve seen since he started his account over a decade ago: His life oscillates wildly between bad times and good times with little attempt to shield the public from how he actually feels, even if that feeling is of his own making. Back then, however, his bad behavior was a point of novelty. So many posts, so many errors, and so many apologies in, everything feels a bit diluted — even the perceived truthfulness of his struggle. There is an implied honesty to the volume of his posts — if it’s not something a normal celebrity would do, and Bieber is doing it anyway, that must make it earnest — but with so much available, it’s difficult to know what the singer actually cares about. That he appears truthful can look like bravery or mania — maybe both.
