‘Counting On’: Some Social Media Movement Has Family Critics Thinking a Duggar Family Scandal Is About to Break
The Duggar family may be media savvy, but family followers noticed that they aren’t particularly social media savvy. Over the weekend of July 24, family followers noticed that the Duggar family, along with other family’s in the ultra-conservative Christian social circle, was doing some serious Instagram clean up. There was a ton of unfollowing and refollowing going on. Now, family followers strongly believe the Duggars and those within their social circles are doing some digital distancing. Could news of another scandal be on the horizon?
The Duggar family unfollowed than refollowed the Bates family
The Duggar family and the Bates family were once incredibly close. In fact, some of the Duggar kids consider some of the Bates kids their best friends. Joy-Anna Duggar and Carlin Bates, for example, often speak openly about their friendship. Regardless of the close connection the kids have formed, some family followers have theorized that Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and Gil and Kelly Jo Bates are no longer on speaking terms. That theory appeared to gain some traction over the weekend when the Duggar family unfollowed the Bates family’s main account on Instagram.
Katie Joy of Without a Crystal Ball noticed the change over the weekend and brought it to the attention of family followers on her Instagram page. Shortly after Katie Joy and the Reddit community picked up on the unfollowing, the Duggars quickly refollowed the Bates family’s account. They are still not following the majority of the adult Bates children who have Instagram pages.
The Duggars have been dropped on Instagram by another famous, fundamentalist Christian family
The Rodrigues family may not have a television show, but they are well known in Reddit circles that discuss ultra-conservative Christian families. The Rodrigues family recently obtained an official familial tie to the Duggars, but they have apparently decided to cut their digital tie to the clan. On July 24, Nurie Rodrigues, the eldest daughter of Jill and David Rodrigues, married Nathan Keller. Nathan is the younger brother of Anna Duggar, who married Josh Duggar in 2008. While Anna and Josh appeared to attend the wedding, family followers noticed some Instagram shuffling on the Rodrigues’ part shortly after the reception.
The Rodrigues family was originally following Anna and several other members of the Duggar family. Shortly after the wedding, they dropped Anna from their following list. At the same time, the Rodrigues family began following Priscilla and David Waller. Priscilla is Anna’s sister. She appeared on 19 Kids and Counting during the lead up to Anna and Josh’s wedding special. Reddit followers believe there may be a feud between Anna and Jill, but no one is sure what that feud might be about.
Could another Duggar family scandal be on the horizon?
Some family followers believe that all the social media movement might indicate that a Duggar family scandal is about to break. At this time, there is no indication that anything of note is about to happen. In fact, all has gone quiet at the family’s Springdale, Arkansas compound. In November 2019, there was chatter that the FBI was investigating the family. That rumor turned out to be false, but the Department of Homeland Security did confirm that their agents were at a property owned by a Duggar family member. No further information has been released.
If the investigation is ongoing, it could be months before family followers learn the reason behind the department’s visit. While several theories have been floated online, no official explanation has been offered. Such investigations can take more than a year to complete, so it could be several months before any information is released to the public if it ever is.
