Sir David Attenborough breaks social media record previously held by Jennifer Aniston

Publish Date
Sunday, 27 September 2020, 7:00AM

Sir David Attenborough has joined Instagram, and broken records doing so.

The 94-year-old naturalist has decided to create a profile on the social media app as another means to communicate the urgency of saving the planet from climate change.

Attenborough has recorded a message introducing himself and the reason he's signed up.

He said: "Hello my name is David Attenborough and I've been appearing on radio and television for the past 60 years but this is my first time on Instagram.

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

"I'm making this move and exploring this new way of communication to me because, as we all know, the world is in trouble.

"Continents are on fire, glaciers are melting, coral reefs are dying, fish are disappearing from our oceans, the list goes on and on."

Attenborough's cult-like following has earned him a Guinness World Record too, having overtaken Friends star, Jennifer Aniston, as the fastest person to reach 1 million Instagram followers.

We're not sure whether it would be considered one of his most prized awards, but we reckon it should be up there! 

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