Sir David Attenborough became the fastest to reach a million Instagram followers by breaking the previous record of Friends fame Jennifer Aniston.
![Sir David Attenborough became the fastest to reach a million LI to honour Sir David Attenborough with the Landscape Institute Medal | Landscape Institute](https://landscapewpstorage01.blob.core.windows.net/www-landscapeinstitute-org/2019/10/sir-david-attenborough-great-barrier-reef-large.png)
94-year-old, Legendary British naturalist Sir David Attenborough joined Instagram on 24 September (Thursday), setting a new record of the fastest time to reach one million followers in four hours 44 minutes, noted by the Guinness World Record.
In his debut post with an IGTV video, he announced that “Saving our planet is now a communications challenge.”
Last October, Friends series fame Jennifer Aniston reached the milestone in five hours and 16 minutes.
The naturalist in his first post stated: “I am making this move… because, as we all know, the world is in trouble. Continents are on fire. Glaciers are melting. Coral reefs are perishing, Fish are vanishing from our oceans. The list goes on and on. Saving our planet is now a communications challenge.”
“Social media isn’t David’s usual habitat,” said his colleagues Jonnie Hughes, a BBC film-maker, and Colin Butfield, of the World Wildlife Fund, who are helping David to run this account.
In the video, Sir David further apprised that he will be posting limited clips and behind-the-scenes content. His Instagram debut comes before the release of a book and a Netflix documentary, both named as A Life On Our Planet, assisted by his collaborators Jonnie Hughes and Colin Butfield.
Sir David has joined a varied list of public figures who have at some juncture held the title for the fastest to gain a million followers.
Instagram record holders:
1. Sir David Attenborough — four hours 44 minutes (September 2020)
2. Jennifer Aniston — five hours 16 minutes (October 2019)
3. Duke and Duchess of Sussex — five hours 45 minutes (April 2019)
4. Kang Daniel, K-Pop star — 11 hours 36 minutes (January 2019)
5. Pope Francis — 12 hours (March 2016)
6. David Beckham — 24 hours (May 2015)
Sir David Attenborough also holds the record for longest career as a TV presenter and longest career as a television naturalist, with an incredible career traversing more than six decades back to the juvenile times of television.
Before signing off, he invited the audience by saying “join me — or as we used to say in those early days of radio, stay tuned”.