Emma Watson’s Instagram has been a regular spot for the Harry Potter actress to share important causes she cares about, mixed with personal thoughts and reflections. However, throughout most of 2022, she took the account — which boasts 69 million followers — in a different direction. And this direction is making many feel out of the loop.
Watson, who also stars in The Bling Ring and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, paused posting on Instagram following a Jan. 11, 2022 video. When she finally returned on Aug. 18, she started to overhaul her entire Instagram aesthetic. She revealed she was the star of Prada’s new fragrance campaign around its Paradoxe scent. As part of the collaboration, Watson also directed the campaign. “I can’t wait to share this piece of my art, and hope that you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it,” Watson wrote at the time. Ever since (with a few exceptions) Watson has mostly posted artsy images broken up into three fragments at a time.
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If you look at Watson’s Instagram profile, it’s a stunning sight, with the actress “hacking” the Instagram square grid format to showcase curated rectangular images. The thing is, though, most Instagram users don’t go browse someone’s profile. They often only see what is pushed to them via Instagram’s algorithm. And with 69 million followers, it’s safe to say that not everyone is clued into Watson’s ongoing fragrance partnership.
When Watson posts these three-part images, the ones that make up the right and left sides tend to just be strange on their own. Cut-off photos of foliage, shots of just Watson’s ear, and blurry production equipment are among the highlights. When Instagram users are served these kinds of photos, it’s more than a bit confusing.
Examples of confused comments include, “Can’t you post the whole picture in one post?,” “What is the picture?,” “What am I looking at?,” “I don’t get the point of these pics,” and “What’s the hidden meaning of this post?” While all these questions could be answered if people would just browse the Hermione Granger actress’ profile, that’s apparently too much to ask in the social media age. Most will just be confused and scroll on, and others will waste just as much time commenting about their confusion as it would take to get a vague grasp of what’s happening.
