TSA posts photos of guns -- like this one found in baggage at McCarran International Airport in early July -- found by agents on Instagram. TSA via Instagram
TSA's Instagram Account is a Must-Follow
The Transportation Security Administration's stream features grenades, knives and birds stuffed in socks.
When Rolling Stone ranked "the 100 best Instagram accounts" last month, it went with some obvious choices—celebrities such as Beyonce and Taylor Swift, and Internet-famous animals like Marnie the Shih Tzu. And then there was No. 4: the Transportation Security Administration.
After two years on Instagram, the TSA, the security provider for the country's transportation systems, has cornered the market on showing users the weird, "prohibited items" fellow travelers try to sneak through security at the airport. There's swords. There's grenades. And, during a pat-down in one airport, birds were found—alive—shoved into a sock.
The account is a spin-off of the "TSA Week in Review" blog post. Bob Burns, TSA's social-media specialist who runs the account, says he noticed that Instagram was getting more popular in 2013, so he decided to set up an account for the TSA.
"To me it was a no-brainer that people would enjoy seeing what we had to share, and once we started sharing photos, it just took off," Burns says.
He was right. TSAgrams have attracted 316,000 followers since.
The photos originate at security checkpoints from more than 450 airports across the country. They're taken by supervisors, who are required to fill out incident reports to the agency when dangerous or deadly items are found. Then, it's Burns's turn.
"I can end up, on a weekly basis, requesting 50 to 75 photos and maybe end up using 20 to 25 of them," he says.
Some less-than-legal situations are accidental. One agent, for example, discovered a chihuahuain its owner's suitcase; the dog had apparently climbed in without anyone noticing. Others, not so much. Passengers have tried to smuggle animals—very illegal—like this one, who had tucked in seven small snakes, encased in nylon stocks, into his pants. He also had "three small turtles," according to the TSA.
"If there's a story behind them or they're odd or quirky, I know they're going to create conversation and people are going to share them," Burns said.
Sometimes TSA's posts have nothing to do with security checkpoints, and everything to do with Star Wars: This photo of Darth Vader with his luggage, which served as a travel advisory on what travelers can and can't pack, garnered more than 7,000 likes. But the general populace isn't there for such #TSATravelTips.
"You'll see a lot of comments about people saying, 'I didn't follow you for this, I followed to see prohibitive items," Burns said. "Post more."