We’ve noticed something happening with a lot of the Instagram trends popping up lately: they’re telling us the exact opposite of what we expect to hear.
Instead of “5 reasons to follow me,” it’s:
Reasons to follow (or unfollow) me.
Instead of “The golden rules of social media marketing,” it’s:
The golden rules of social media marketing I DON’T believe in.
Instead of telling us all the things we should be doing, creators are sharing the things they refuse to do, advice they disagree with and reasons you probably shouldn’t follow them.
Why does reverse psychology content work so well?
It’s 2026… and we already know what most content is going to say.
When you see “5 rules for growing on Instagram,” you can probably guess at least three of them before you swipe.
But:
“5 Instagram growth rules I completely ignore”
Now I want to know what they are.
It creates a little curiosity gap, but more importantly, it gives the person behind the account room to have an actual opinion.
And I think that’s a big reason we’re seeing more formats like this right now.
There is SO much educational content available. Your audience probably doesn’t need another person telling them to “provide value” or “post consistently.”
They want to know what you think.
It’s especially good for personal brands
There’s another reason I love these formats for business owners: they tell people who you are without needing an awkward “10 facts about me” post.
Take “Reasons to follow or unfollow me.”
Your “follow” reasons can show people what they’ll get from your content.
But your “unfollow” reasons might say even more about you:
- Unfollow me if you’re looking for overnight growth hacks.
- Unfollow me if you think every post needs to look perfectly polished.
- Unfollow me if you never want to hear me talk about Canva again. 😅
You’re showing your values, your approach and your personality while also helping the right people decide that they like what you’re about.
That’s pretty useful content for a personal brand.
How to use reverse psychology in your own content
You don’t have to wait for a specific trend to try this either.
Take a normal content idea and ask yourself:
What happens if I flip it?
Instead of:
5 rules for creating better content
try:
5 content rules I don’t follow anymore
Instead of:
Things I do to grow my business
try:
Things I DON’T do as a business owner
Instead of:
Why you should follow me
try:
Reasons to follow (or unfollow) me
Instead of:
My best branding advice
try:
Branding advice I would never give you
One important thing: Don’t force the hot take
This is where these posts can go wrong.
You don’t need to disagree with popular advice just for the sake of having something controversial to say.
If your “rules I don’t believe in” carousel is filled with opinions you don’t actually have, people can usually tell.
The best version is something you’ve genuinely learned from running your business, working with clients or doing whatever it is you teach.
The format gets their attention. Your actual point of view is what makes the post worth reading.
Want to try it?
We’ve been adding more of these personality-heavy formats to our Aesthetic Cool Girl Carousel Templates, including designs for “Reasons to follow/unfollow me,” “The golden rules I don’t believe in,” “Things I DON’T do as…” and plenty of other opinion-led carousel ideas.
And if you want to keep an eye on what other formats are popping up on Instagram right now, we’re also updating our Instagram Trends Report every week with the trends we think are actually worth trying for your business.
See This Week’s Instagram Trends →
