Ugh, You're Such A Follower

Does Your Insta Feed Do You Right?

Lately I’ve been thinking about the power of influence and how it effects us in ways both big and small. A few posts ago I mentioned that I’m following Caroline Baudino aka “Shop With Caroline” on Instagram. It’s been a passive follow for a very long time but lately she’s captured more of my attention. Caroline is 52, she has a lot of fun with fashion and I like her positioning on getting older and feeling amazing. I’ve now made, not one but two, purchases off her suggestions. Caroline’s got me feeling like a Sephora tween! If I’m getting influenced how on earth can we expect a tween to not succumb to these magical powers?

If you’re like me you maybe follow a new account here and there but your instagram feed is pretty consistent. Which means I’m getting messaging from the same accounts every day, several times a day, sometimes first thing in the morning and right before I lay my head to sleep at night. (My phone needs a curfew! I had slayed this dragon but it’s reared its ugly head once again.)

There isn’t a publication, news channel or ‘stack that gets a bigger slice of my time. Which has me thinking about my feed in a new way. It may be time to really get intentional about who and what I’m following.

When Emily and I decided to bring How To Be Less Old back to life, we also awakened our old HTBLO instagram account. Over the last five years the HTBLO instagram has been sitting idle. Occasionally we would upload a snap for funsies but for the most part she’s been frozen in time. That account was keeping tabs on past guests, flash in the pan insta-celebs like “eyebrows on fleek” gal Peaches Monroe and a spattering of real friends. But by and large there wasn’t a lot of crossover between our podcast account follows and our personal account follows. It’s been interesting to catch up with 627 of our old pals. Apparently they are not frozen in time, they have indeed marched forward without us.

If an account falls dormant in the woods and no one is around to view it does it really exist?

I recently and quite frantically texted Emily to inform her that one of our former guests, Allie Kaplan of The Kaplan Twins, got married!

The Kaplan Twins are artist/creatives. They were known for their “Sat On Your Face” series where they painted someone’s likeness and then dipped their butt cheeks into paint and sat on that likeness. LIKE YOU DO.

Seems that their focus has shifted in 2024. They created a product called gemzeez (possibly a play on Gen Z?) which is a gemstone for the tooth!

These twins were truly attached at the hip in life and in business to see one married off was a shock. All was set right when I saw that Lexie was engaged and that the twins have the same exact engagement ring. Truly a relief.

I immediately got reinvested in some of our old HTBLO insta follows even though not a lick of intel about those accounts has made its way to my personal feed over the last five years. It really illuminated how siloed off we are from each other. I was even siloed off from a former version of myself! Between follows, algorithms and cookies we are creating a funnel of information that is VERY specific to our interests. Ever sign out of YouTube and see what the general page looks like? It’s terrifying. My YouTube feed is comprised of skincare devices, old Howard Stern clips, Bravo, Hasidic Jews, Printify tips and VOGUE GRWMs and that’s how I like it! No further questions, please and thank you!

I’m going to look at who I follow with fresh eyes and see if there are any changes to be made. Love to hear what your instagram algo journey has been like!

MOVIE REC ALERT!

I’ve watched The Greatest Night in Pop, from director Bao Nguyen, twice and I’m looking forward to a third viewing. It’s about the making of the song We Are The World and it takes place over the course of a single night. More than 40 of our greatest talents got together to create something magical. Having this footage is truly a gift.

Some incredible moments that I’ve been thinking about on repeat in no particular order:

• An impromptu group serenade for Harry Belafonte.

• Stevie Wonder guiding Ray Charles to the bathroom.

• A late night order of Roscoe's iconic chicken 'n waffles.

• A spontaneous, autograph signing kicked off by Diana Ross asking Daryl Hall to sign her sheet music.

• Diana Ross in childlike awe of the entire night wearing an oversized USA Africa sweatshirt.

• Bob Dylan not knowing how to approach his solo and leaning on Stevie Wonder to help find his way.

• Quincy Jones in action as a producer - absolutely masterful.

It’s truly a spectacular piece of history and a gift to get to watch and experience 🤍.

What have you been watching lately? Either TV, movie or insta accounts — what’s got your eyeballs? Let us know in the comments!