By invitation · Founding Partners
Six sections. Six island businesses.
The Johns Islander is the islands' guide. Founding Partners each present one section of it. Nobody buys coverage, and nothing we write is for sale.
Photo: Seasider53, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized)
What The Johns Islander is
The Johns Islander is the islands' guide and the front door to the Islander Home Team. We tell you what's true about living on Kiawah, Seabrook, Johns Island and Wadmalaw, sourced and dated. We list and sell homes with that same care. If you're going somewhere we don't, we'll put you with an agent we trust.
- A website for Johns Island, Kiawah, Seabrook and Wadmalaw: the tide and weather live, every show on one schedule, the Wire’s island news, the dining guide, the directory, every fee to buy a home, sourced and dated.
- An Instagram account, @thejohnsislander, that posts one post and one story a day at 4 pm, each about something on the site, with the business or venue in it tagged.
- Run by Mike Olson, a licensed South Carolina real estate agent with eXp Realty, LLC, who lives on Johns Island.
The audience, in real numbers
Instagram’s own numbers for @thejohnsislander, pulled through Metricool on Oct. 22, 2026. Nothing here is estimated.
Of 4,695 followers in Instagram’s breakdown.
| Charleston | 40.4% |
|---|---|
| Johns Island | 9.1% |
| Seabrook Island | 1.9% |
| Wadmalaw Island | 1.6% |
| Kiawah Island | 1.2% |
| Johns Island, Seabrook, Wadmalaw and Kiawah together | 13.8% |
| Everywhere else, or not known to Instagram | 45.8% |
Instagram’s own share of followers by city, as it names the cities: Charleston and the four islands.
Top posts, by accounts reached
| Post | Reached | Shared |
|---|---|---|
| The Johns Island rec center breaking ground (City of Charleston) Oct. 11, 2026 | 12,538 | 334 |
| The Heyday closing after Oct. 25 Oct. 20, 2026 | 5,922 | 99 |
| Nine live oaks on Maybank Highway Oct. 7, 2026 | 4,837 | 56 |
| The mayor's traffic ordinance (reel) Oct. 8, 2026 | 3,642 | 34 |
| The rec center gym, from the city plans Oct. 14, 2026 | 3,360 | 88 |
Reached: different accounts that saw the post. Shared: times it was sent on. Counted over each post’s life. The account’s biggest single day: 8,897 accounts reached on Oct. 11, 2026.
The website
We don't count site visitors yet, so there's no site number here. Nothing on this page is estimated. When the site starts counting, the count goes here with its dates.
The six sections
Each one is presented by one business. Here is exactly how the credit looks on each.
01
The Setlist · Live music
Every show on the islands and across Charleston on one schedule, with each room's page.
Where the credit goes: A line under the page head on /music. See the section
The Setlist · Live music02
The weather desk
Live radar, alerts, the tide against the flood lines, the captain's desk and the tropics.
Where the credit goes: A line under the page head on /weather. See the section
The weather desk03
Island Today
The morning page: tides, the water, sunset and the dolphin window, every day.
Where the credit goes: A line under the page head on /today. See the section
Island Today04
Today's gamesNot on the site yet
The daily island games.
Where the credit goes: A line under the games' page head, once the games are on the site.
Today's games05
The 4 pm post + story
One Instagram post and one story every day at 4 pm on @thejohnsislander, on the same subject from the site.
Where the credit goes: Instagram's own "Paid partnership" label on the post and the story, and "Presented by" in the caption.
thejohnsislander Paid partnership with yourbusiness
The day’s card, from the sitePresented by @yourbusiness
The day’s post, written by us, with its sources…06
The Wire's food columnNot on the site yet
A standing column on where to eat and drink on the islands.
Where the credit goes: A line under the column's head, once the column has its own page. Never on a story.
The Wire's food column
How it’s labeled
- Every presented section says so, in plain words: "Presented by" and the business's name, on the section itself.
- A partner presents a section. It never chooses, sees ahead of time or changes what we write, and it never buys a story, a review or a place in the directory.
- News stories and home listings are never presented, sponsored or paid for. The directory stays free and unranked.
- One partner per category, so no two businesses in the same line of work present at once.
- Lenders, mortgage brokers, title companies, closing attorneys, appraisers, home inspectors, home warranty companies and insurers can't be partners. Mike is a real estate agent, and federal law (RESPA §8) bars payments from those businesses that could stand in for a referral.
- On Instagram, a presented post carries Instagram's own "Paid partnership" label. Our scheduler can't set that label yet, so those posts go up by hand.
- A partner's name shows only while its term runs. When a section has no partner, it shows nothing.
By invitation. Ask Mike.
Founding Partners is by invitation. Six sections, one business in each category, and that's the whole list. If you'd like to be considered, ask Mike. Pricing when we talk.
Email MikeCall or text 843-442-7992
The one-page sheet, to print or forward.
Bohicket Marina, Johns Island
Photo: chucka_nc, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized)
Buying or selling here?
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Mike Olson · eXp RealtyOver 20 years selling homes in the Lowcountry · Johns Island resident