by Macy K. Spence
If Instagram was a library, her feed would without a doubt be a page-turner within it. She will quite literally charm your socks off with her wonderful way with words, and the manner in which she marries them unassumingly with each and every photo, detailing quiet musings and significant moments from her day-to-day or adventures gone by.[1]How does one journalist use Instagram captions to tell a story?
For Jo Rodgers, contributing Vogue columnist, Instagram is an expressionistic hobby. Formerly a literary agent at William Morris Endeavor and a book editor for Random House, Rodgers knows what attracts a reader. In her first few postings on Instagram, she shared a cozy tabletop kitchen scene, with a book recommendation in hand. Her suggested readings are often a recipe or gardening book that correlates with what she’s making for dinner. Her writing is continuously influenced by her degree in English Literature — focusing on Victorian Literature and Classics — from the women’s college, Wellesley. The beautiful snapshots of her daily sightings around London are garnished with witty prose as captions. The loquacious words accent her photographs in a way that make her followers feel as though they are looking at illustrious illustrations within their favorite novel.
Rodgers offers a fresh take on the usual travel and food blog. Taking her simple pleasures of books, fare, and photography, she creates a visual feast. Perhaps as a novelist would, Jo writes herself on social media as the major protagonist in a story. Readers and followers often gush in the comments section of how delightful it would be to walk in her shoes for a day; which in many ways, she allows us to through her online reveries. In May, one picture displaying her morning breakfast of tea, fruit, and pancakes is captioned, “It’s one of those yawning May days: all the windows in the house are open, the first of the asparagus was at the market, and local kids are whipping around the square on their bicycles shouting gruesome threats at one another, wearing nylon capes. We made blueberry-pistachio pancakes for lunch and later we’re going to check on the roses in the garden.”
Another photograph from last July depicts an idyllic desk setting, featuring her afternoon lunch, along with her writing duties is captioned, “Lunch at half past three o’clock (tomatoes, cherries, ham sandwiches) while the rain pings down. I’ve been squinting at the storm since noon, putting off errands by the hour. Next door’s cat, that bellwether of the neighbourhood, has begun preparing a handy den beneath our garden furniture. Oh crumbs.” Not only does Rodgers give the beholders a glorious display, enabling them to picture themselves in that surrounding, but she also enlightens readers on what is happening outside of the Instagrammed square. She tells the delicious tales of pub dining and farmer’s market shopping in a way that inspires readers to enjoy the simple pleasures in life. Rodgers’ followers send in droves of remarks about how they wish to go to these certain recommended places, or why they particularly enjoyed that area as well in the past.
Despite her followers’ frequent praisings towards her phrases and photographies, many Instagrammers dislike pages such as as Rodgers’. Her followers’ adoring comments are usually pleads of a novel to be written by Jo herself. This leads many viewers unable to differentiate between what is fictional and nonfictional on social media platforms like these, which display an almost surreal lifestyle.
Not uncommon, many people scroll through Instagram, or other favorable social media sources, first thing in the morning. The majority of these users report feeling drained before starting their day. The truth is, most social media profiles portray a strong sense of superficiality, whom many cannot detect. Bloggers with large streams of followers, such as Jo Rodgers, generally use these outlets as a highlights reel to depict their best life. In fact, this is the exact method that Rodgers utilizes when posting; however, she informs her followers of this tactic.
Although Jo Rodgers’ life may appear unflawed, she informs her followers, in her cheeky captions, of her many botched attempts at baking and keeping house. In her renovation article series with Vogue Magazine — which documents the beginning of the search to find an apartment in London with her husband, to the final purchased residency — she recounts on the moments of discovering the many downfalls of apartments in Chelsea London. Downfalls such as the demolished carpet in one sitting room, to the the taxidermied ferrets one stairwell, to the ever present bat family in one chimney, are definitely not the gloriously chic clippings viewers would normally peruse through on her glossy social media page. Rodgers showcases the shops and sceneries she encounters everyday; meanwhile, she never excluding the hardships of modern life in London as a freelance writer. Just the mention of the pesky neighborhood cat and the leaky ceiling in her favorite bookshop are what captivates readers into wanting to plunge deeper into her day-to-day dwellings.
Originally from Chicago, Jo finds herself discovering a world of unknown nooks and crannies to read, dine and watch the world go by in the city of London. As a side note, traditional book shops and farmhouse pubs are her favorite choices, of course. After moving to the smokey city with her husband eight years ago, Rodgers can firmly state that London is the most marvelous city in the world, in her mindful opinion. New York and Boston coming a close second and third, respectively. To immerse herself into unexplored cities, Rodgers decided to take up the position of being a travel writer. When she’s not in her blue doored flat in the neighborhood of Belgravia in West Central London experimenting on a new pasta or pie recipe, she’s adventuring around the world writing for Vogue’s online travel column.
New opportunities to travel and write has opened her third eye of the world of adventure. In Vogue, Jo’s travel columns are an absolute treat to read, as are her delicious tried-and-true recipes, which feature humble and humorous gestures along the way. On her trip journey Scotland on the Belmond Royal Scotsman, Rodgers talks her readers through the adventurously classy, highly sophisticated, etiquette protocols onboard. Whirls of wanderlust fill their minds upon browsing the verbose article.
Jo Rodgers’ stories and articles enable her followers and readers to go on a virtual vacation. Her online snapshots are reminiscent of picturesque postcards. The note on the back is sure to be a story worth reading.
Works Cited
“Drinks Hot Chocolate in the Mornings. Lives in London. Writes for Vogue.” Web blog post. This Is Jules. 23 December 2015. Web. 7 November 2018.
“Jo Rodgers: A Life in Books.” Toast Magazine.25 September 2017. Web. 1 November 2018.
[1]In an online interview titled “Drinks Hot Chocolate in the Mornings. Lives in London. Writes for Vogue.” on the blog This Is Jules, the interviewer gave this statement in regard to Rodgers.