The Bates Family's Instagram Habits Are Pretty Different From The Duggars

Unlike the Duggars, many members of the Bates family are on Instagram, including a few unmarried siblings. I mention marriage because there's a rumor the Duggar kids aren't allowed to have an Instagram account until they're hitched. And the Bates family Instagram accounts reveal a few key differences between them and their famous Duggar friends.

At the time of this writing, Lawson, Carlin, Erin, Zach, Trace, Alyssa, Katie, Michaela, and Josie are all on Instagram. In comparison, the Duggars on social media are Jill, Jessa, Joy-Anna, John-David, Jed, Jana, Josiah, and Jinger. The Duggars are almost tied with the Bates Instagram account-wise, but don't let that fool you into thinking their social media habits are alike.

For starters, the Bates siblings post way more often the Duggars do. Lawson, for example, regularly shares Instagram stories and he posts photos about every two to three days. As for a Duggar like Jessa, however, she tends to post when there's something to promote, like a new episode of Counting On. And when it comes to Kendra and Joseph Duggar, they post once every few months unless it's Counting On season.

Another area of difference concerns versatility. Erin, for instance, boasts a highly-curated feed showcasing different areas of her life, all the way from shots of her family to her interior design work. She also has categorized her Instagram Stories into "Farm Projects," "My Babies," "Cooking," "Farmhouse," "Playtime," and "Baking." The only other Duggar to follow this method of marketing is Jana, who has a bunch of saved Instagram Stories, including one for travel.

What's more, the Bates tend to post more selfie and solo shots. Trace, for example, regularly posted photos of himself out and about pre-courtship. Just based on visuals alone, it appears the Bates are more comfortable on social media and use it more freely. That being said, however, the Duggars are slowly getting into the swing of things, including Jinger. She has been experimenting more with filters and influencer-style shots, especially following her move to Los Angeles.

That all being said, the Duggars and Bates kids were raised similarly in terms of their relationship to the internet. In the Bates household, no sibling is allowed to go on the internet alone, with Gil and Kelly Jo Bates using "passwords and accountability" to ensure this rule is met, according to SheKnows.

The Duggar kids are allowed to use the internet for schoolwork, but it is restricted for educational purposes only, according to Showbiz Cheat Sheet. Additionally, the Duggar teens aren't allowed to have the internet on their cellphones, which is interesting. I guess cellphone usage is harder to supervise?

Despite these fundamental differences, I think the Bates and Duggars are very different from one another, a sentiment Bates Executive Producer Matthew Hightower touched on in a conversation with The Observer. "They’re very different from each other in many, many ways, and I think that’s all that needs to be said about this," he explained.

I think this opinion is best demonstrated in the Bates family Instagram accounts, as the siblings' profiles are pretty different from the Duggars. But like anything on social media, nothing is ever as it seems.