[imagesource: BBC]

First, the older folk came for Facebook, and there were likes and comments under every single picture, within minutes of anything being posted.

That’s fine, because over on Instagram it’s a different ball game, right?

To a degree, but in the case of 94-year-old Sir David Attenborough, he’s put even the most well-known of influencers to shame.

The naturalist created an Instagram account yesterday (with the help of filmmakers, who saved his children and grandchildren the hassle), and promptly claimed the Guinness World Record for the fastest time to reach one million followers on Instagram.

It took just over four hours from the time his first post went live to crack a million followers:

The previous record holder for this title was Friends star Jennifer Aniston, who joined the social media app on October 15 2019 and gained 1 million followers in five hours and 16 minutes.

Footballer David Beckham, Pope Francis and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have all also been a record holder in this category.

That’s some decent company.

Here’s Sir David’s post, created in part to raise awareness about the upcoming Netflix documentary, A Life On Our Planet:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

David Attenborough has spent a lifetime travelling, exploring the wild places of our planet and documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder. He’s also witnessed the damaged caused. Saving our planet is now a communications challenge. We know what to do, we just need the will. That’s why we want to share this message on Instagram. Because there is hope and together, we can inspire change. Social media isn’t David’s usual habitat so while he’s recorded messages solely for Instagram, like the one in this post, we’re helping to run this account. In case you’re wondering, ‘we’ are Jonnie and Colin and we worked with David on A Life On Our Planet. So, as well as sharing the messages he’s recorded especially for this account we’ll also post some exclusive clips and behind the scenes content. Stay tuned.

A post shared by A Life On Our Planet (@davidattenborough) on Sep 24, 2020 at 2:00am PDT

Click. Followed.

Whilst Attenborough has spent more than six decades as a television naturalist and presenter, it’s clear that he is worried about the state of the planet that will be left behind once he calls it a day.

The Netflix doccie comes with this description:

In this unique feature documentary, titled David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet, the celebrated naturalist reflects upon both the defining moments of his lifetime and the devastating changes he has seen. Coming to Netflix October 4 2020, the film addresses some of the biggest challenges facing life on our planet, providing a snapshot of global nature loss in a single lifetime.

With it comes a powerful message of hope for future generations as Attenborough reveals the solutions to help save our planet from disaster.

Here’s the latest trailer:

If we won’t listen to Sir David, and we’ve ignored the scientists for years, who will we listen to?

[source:guinness]