Independent media outlet Perth Is OK! surpasses 4 million hashtags on Instagram

After recently hitting 1 million visitors/month for the first time on their website, Western Australia-based independent media outlet Perth Is OK! have continued their strong start to 2021, ticking over 4 million user-generated #perthisok hashtags on Instagram.

Perth is OK! founders Luke Whelan and Blake Kelleway launched Perth Is OK! on the social media app in 2014 as a tongue-in-cheek response to the city’s persistent ‘dullsville’ tag, offering an organic and community-driven response thanks to user submissions to the hashtag.

And with that strong sense of community, the ensuing years have seen the Instagram page rapidly grow to become one of the most prominent digital voices in the State, amassing 364,000 followers – second only to the government-owned @westernaustralia.

This network is further enhanced by their @perthisok.local Instagram account (already at 30,300 followers in less than a year), along with 158,000 followers (142,000 likes) on Facebook, accounting for a total of 18 million+ monthly impressions.

“We’re obviously stoked,” said co-founder Blake Kelleway.

“While a lot of digital media outlets are still relying on Facebook to drive web traffic, over these past 12 months we’ve really doubled down on our Instagram growth strategy and are now starting to see some pretty spectacular results. Not the least of which is arriving at this milestone.”

“The success of the #perthisok movement and that initial Instagram community now morphing into one of the largest independent digital media outlets in WA, signifies a shift in what a media outlook not only looks like in 2021, but how it can operate,” added co-found Luke Whelan.

“It’s built by Perth to celebrate Perth, and the continued growth and community positivity surrounding it is a reflection of that.”