Social media
my world was shrinking. People were moving, people were ill. So I started my blog because I wanted to reach out. After that, I heard about this thing called Instagram. It was really hard learning it. I really stumbled my way in. I’m shocked because most people who follow me are 30 and 40 years younger. But there are people who are older, who have kind of given up and say, ‘You know, I’m going to start wearing lipstick.’”
Toby Bloomberg, 69, in Atlanta is a Sallin supporter. She discovered Sallin after Sallin competed on the short-lived Food Network show “Clash of the Grandmas.”
“She talks a lot about aging,” Bloomberg said. “That’s quite an unusual phenomenon on social media, which is obviously dominated by people far younger than we are.”
MacDonald said she was surprised at the beginning that people actually cared what she had to say.
“Why would people want to follow an old broad,” she giggled from her home in Ontario, Canada. “My daughter, Michelle, cleared that up. She said it’s what you’re representing, that people can do what they think they’ve not been able to do or were told that they couldn’t do.”
Brunch With Babs
Grace Maier, 32, is home full time with her two kids, ages 6 months and 2. She follows Barbara Costello, a 72-yearold Connecticut grandmother who uses the handle @brunchwithbabs.
“She does these posts, ‘Did your mom ever tell you?’ and I followed her immediately on Instagram,” Maier said. “Her content brings me joy! She’s got all of these life hacks and tips that remind me of things my grandma shared with me before she passed. She also doesn’t take herself too seriously and just seems
like the kind of person who would welcome you into her home.”
Obviously
Mae Karwowski, founder and CEO of the influencer marketing agency Obviously, has more than 100 influencers in her network between the ages of 60 and 80. With more than a billion users on Instagram alone, she points to the successes on that platform of 93-yearold Helen Ruth Elam (baddiewinkle), 67-year-old Lyn Slater (iconaccidental) and 100-year-old style legend Iris Apfel.
There’s another aspect to the reach of seniors: Grandparents and grandchildren who have teamed up to share their adventures together, from traveling the world to Nerf gun battles.
“Mainstream media, I would say, presents a really narrow viewpoint on this age group. What’s great about social media is you can follow a really cool 75-year-old woman who is just doing her thing in Florida and that’s fun. That’s different. And she’s funny,” Karwowski said. “The 21-year-old fashion model influencer is managed. She has a team. She has designers falling all over themselves to give her everything. She has professional photographers. A lot of these 70-plus influencers are doing it all.”
Style in Your 70s
Candace Cima, 74, taught herself to shoot and edit video for Instagram by watching YouTube tutorials. She hopped on the platform
in February 2019 as a fresh voice on fashion and style while encouraging her audience not to be afraid of aging. Her husband sometimes helps out with photos for @styleinyour70s.withleslieb (Leslie is her middle name).
“I’m still in that learning curve, I have to be honest. Two and a half years ago, I didn’t even know what an influencer was,” said Cima, in Ithaca, New York. “I’ve always had a lot of ideas about aging. I don’t understand why aging has such a negative connotation.”
With 37,900 followers, some of her youngest fans have shared with her why they care: “They don’t want to age the way they saw their relatives aging,” Cima said. “They feel like they can learn something.”