Barack Obama once asked his 35 million followers (it was more like 32 at the time) on Instagram and Twitter to “try something new.”
“If you’re in the United States, send
me a text at 773-365-9687—I want to hear how you’re doing, what’s on your mind, and how you’re planning on voting this year.”
Though this was back in 2020, one enterprising Instagram user, @dming.obama.until.he.responds, has made it their mission to pepper Obama with messages (until he responds) and is still going in 2022, having started on May the 14th 2020 (before Obama even asked his fans to text him, which happened in September 2020).
The Instagram user’s captions have evolved from the likes of “day one” and “day two” and “Day 6: I wish Obama was still president” (plus an honourable mention to “Day 12, I’m not going to forget again goddamnit”) to random statements (like the following: “Day 514: I don’t care how masculine you are Taylor swift has some fuckin BANGERS”).
The user has also hashtagged a wide variety of Instagram communities (and political groups), to try and get traction.
That has so far proved pretty futile. The Instagram account has posted 517 times, and only has 249 followers. This does not appear to have dented their confidence, however.
@dming.obama.until.he.responds has also been going for so long, their messages have lived through Instagram’s transition of a white background to Direct Messages to a black background (which appears to have happened in October 2020).
At the time of writing, as far as DMARGE could see, the most popular post on the page has received some 600 likes. Most recent posts, however, have received between 10 and 20 likes.
Though Obama doesn’t look like responding anytime soon, this is a heartwarming example of persistence for us all, and perhaps a much-needed dose of 2022 inspiration.
Obama – you up?
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