Drinking In Jersey City: Town Ranks On Top-10 List For Most Alcohol-Themed Instagram Posts

JERSEY CITY, NJ — Two years ago this month, New Jerseyans hunkered down to try to survive the pandemic. People spent more time on-line, and, according to various sources, more time drinking.

In May 2020, Gov. Murphy signed legislation to allow hotels, bars, and restaurants to sell and deliver alcohol, and people also began to experiment making their own craft cocktails.

National rehab directory Rehabs.com commissioned a study in which the 100 largest towns and cities in New Jersey were ranked for their number of alcohol-related Instagram posts over the course of the pandemic.

The researchers analyzed 5,000 Instagram posts starting from March 2020 — the unofficial start of lockdowns for most states — to identify how many were related to alcohol or being drunk. The results reveal which town/cities posted about it the most.

Rehabs.com determined that Bernards, which has a population of just 27,830, came in the number one spot with 392 alcohol-related Instagram posts (per 5,000 posts) during the pandemic. This represents 7.84 percent of all Instagram posts in that town during that period.

Bernards is in Somerset County, which has the highest amount of excessive drinkers in the state at 21 percent, according to County Health Rankings.

Not far behind came Atlantic City with 377 alcohol/drunk-related posts (per 5,000 posts) during the pandemic for a rate of 7.54 percent, though it has a slightly larger population of 38,497.

Number 10 on the list was Jersey City.

Residents of the city, with a population of 292,449, posted 367 alcohol-related items, the study said. This worked out to 7.34 percent of their posts in the time period.

Jersey City came between Woodbridge (9) and Cherry Hill (11).

See the top 100 here.

Instagram, unlike Facebook and Twitter, focuses on photos and videos with a short summary and little back-and-forth.

Thus, it's usually less political than the other sites, and popular among businesses seeking to promote their wares.

Rehabs.com has included below signs that indicate a problematic relationship with alcohol:

• Difficulty controlling one’s level of alcohol consumption.
• Wanting to decrease or stop drinking alcohol but being unable to do so.
• Developing a higher tolerance for alcohol and needing more over time to reach the desired effects.
• Experiencing alcohol cravings when not drinking as well as withdrawal symptoms such as sweating, shaking and nausea.
• Facing personal problems at home, work, or school due to alcohol use.

Here is a link to the federal government's Substance and Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's national helpline and resources.

Here are the state of New Jersey's hotline numbers for various mental health, addiction and counseling services.

Here is a fact sheet about internet addiction from a mental health nonprofit.

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