The earnest platform : U.S. presidential candidates, COVID-19, and social issues on Instagram

Increasingly, Instagram is discussed as a site for misinformation, inauthentic activities, and polarization, particularly in recent studies about elections, the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines. In this study, we have found a different platform. By looking at the content that receives the most interactions over two time periods (in 2020) related to three U.S. presidential candidates and the issues of COVID-19, healthcare, 5G and gun control, we characterize Instagram as a site of earnest (as opposed to ambivalent) political campaigning and moral support, with a relative absence of polarizing content (particularly from influencers) and little to no misinformation and artificial amplification practices. Most importantly, while misinformation and polarization might be spreading on the platform, they do not receive much user interaction.