Star Posting / The Just Kidding Star

About

Star Posting, sometimes written as Starposting, refers to a series of exploitable image macros of different "stars," each with their own name that follows the template, "The X Star." Under each star is a second caption that lays out the star's purpose, which roughly follows the template, "Post this star when you X, so that your buddies know X." The Just Kidding Star was the first iteration of the meme that was posted on Instagram in February 2019. In July 2021, the meme resurfaced on Instagram and got multiple re-edits.

Origin

"Star Posting" began with the "Just Kidding Star," which was created by Instagram account @premiles.^[1] On February 16th, 2019, @premiles posted a two-image post with the "Just Kidding Star" (shown below, right) appearing second in the post. Another image that read, "Awesome Underground Music for Indie Fans!" has the "Just Kidding Star," layered on top of it (shown below, left) and came before the "Just Kidding Star" in the two-image post.^[2] The post would receive roughly 5,700 likes in roughly two and a half years.

In February and March 2019, @premiles would go on to include the "Just Kidding Star" in more than five posts and also use the concept to sell merchandise like stickers.^[3]

Spread

In 2019 and 2020, @premiles would go on to post the star, but on July 10th, 2021, @premiles would post the "Just Kidding Star" again.^[4] This time the image would inspire more re-edits and new stars to enter the meta (shown below). The term "star posting" and the trend as a whole (for the most part) can be attributed to Instagram account @coincellpro2.^[5]

Because of the bottom captions of these images that encourage the viewer to "post this star," these star posts were shared by meme and personal Instagram accounts alike, usually in the form of an Instagram Story. The trend spread quickly going into August 2021 because of this highly sharable nature.

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References