Granfluencers are part of the open world of social media. Influencer is an opinion leader. A person whose profile has managed to gather a lot of fans, observers, users who take their opinion into account. The group of influencers is dominated by very young people, but more and more also among them are seniors. This peculiar phenomenon is constantly evolving, there are more and more mature social media users who bring a lot of joy, colors and an optimistic approach to life. So a group of granfluencers is being formed in front of our eyes.

Granfluencersstill not the majority. Young people are still in the lead in social media (around three-quarters of Instagram users are under 35).

Nevertheless, seniors are getting better at this website. Over the past two years, the BBC reports that the top ten most influential seniors on Instagram have seen a 24 percent increase in followers.

We can expect that there will be more and more active users of mature age, especially as the demographic trends are inexorable - Western societies are clearly aging.

This, however, provides a chance to break the stereotype of a senior who shuns new technologies, and is limited primarily to television and radio, and spending time at home not very creatively. So it's time to get used to granfluencers.

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Who is granfluencer?

Granfluencer is an amalgamation of the term "influencer" and the prefix "gran-", referring to a fair age - for example in the English words "grandmother" or "grandfather".

They are people of mature age who have mastered the art of using social media, such as Instagram, Facebook or YouTube. In this group of Internet "opinion leaders" we will meet people over 60 or even 90 years old.

They usually run inspirational profiles - on fashion and lifestyle. They show, for example, interesting styles, as well as how they spend their time creatively and happily.

Granfluencersit is an interesting phenomenon because it breaks all stereotypes and canons of beauty - associated with young age and perfect appearance. Anyway, this is where the popularity of such internet creators lies. Internet users are looking for authenticity, freshness, a new approach to creating an image among their "idols".

Granfluencerzy and body positive trend

Mature and stylish influencers fit into yet another trend noticeable in social media. It is about the so-called body positive.

In spite of the "binding" canons and striving for perfection, the body's appearance shows its imperfections. They can be related to age, illness or simply … not putting on makeup.

Pictures of show business stars and internet influencers without makeup were very popular at one time. They were supposed to show a distance to oneself, as well as accepting the body in the most "natural" form. Seniors who do not care about their age, while experiencing a kind of second youth, perfectly fit into the mentioned trend.

Below are examples of social media profiles successfully run by granfluencers.

Helen Ruth Elam van Winkle - Baddie Winkle

Kentucky-born Helen Ruth Elam van Winkle, known on Instagram as Baddie Winkle, has become an internet sensation. Born in 1928, so now over 90, she has already had 3.8 million followers on Instagram.

And her entire career can be considered a coincidence. It started when her great-granddaughter published a photo of Helen in an interesting youth styling - a top and short denim shorts, while the heroine conveyed the peace sign.

As Baddie Winkle mentioned in an interview with US Radio Station, people were probably thrilled that she didn't care about her age and what other people thought about her.

Baddie Winkle constantly publishes photos with colorful, sometimes neon stylizations. It also captivates with an extraordinary sense of humor. In her bio on Instagram, she writes that she has been "stealing men" since 1928 (then she was born).

What else does it delight fans with? She can talk openly about her he alth issues, move her lips to the rhythm of "youth" raps, effectively break age-related stereotypes and, above all, constantly emphasize that Instagram has completely changed her life.

Irvin Randle -MrStealYourGrandma

Irvn Randle has been described as a teacher and model. On Instagram, he even created his own hashtag - MrStealYourGrandma, which shows his sense of humor, distance, butalso awareness of … good style.

Compared to Baddie Winkle, he is a much younger granfluencer because he was born in 1961. Grandfather of two grandchildren, he started his career in social media in 2016.

One of the Facebook users asked him to share photos of tasteful, excellent fashion stylizations. And when he published everything, the temperature on the internet quickly rose. Currently, Irvin Randle is followed by over 280,000 people on Instagram. The model constantly surprises with its sense of style.

As he himself emphasizes: "I just want to inspire people to feel sexy in their 50s," he says in one of the videos posted on his profile.

In addition to being active on Instagram, she regularly works as a runway model. He also takes care of his body - he exercises 5 days a week and rests 2 days.

He even walks brides down the aisle! In an interview with Cosmopolitan, however, he assured that he did not really want to steal grandmothers from anyone …

Magda Llohis de Gutierrez

Currently 76-year-old Magda Llohis de Gutierrez has an interesting Instagram profile (@ magdalife57) with over 20,000 followers.

She is a Spanish artist and a huge fan of Frida Kahlo - you can see it in her stylizations shown on the web.

As she says (text in bio): "Age is an illusion. People call me a fashionista, and I call myself an artist".

Among her numerous photos it is difficult to find one in which she does not smile. Magda has never planned a career online, but she is happy that she can share her joy and prove that a 76-year-old woman can successfully run Instagram.

How did it all start? Well, she was noticed in New York by the founder of the fashion blog Ari Seth Cohen. He encouraged her to set up her own social media account.

At first, Magda didn't even know what he was actually talking about. She was very happy when she gathered 3,000 followers. Now he has several times more.

He is also happy to share tips on looking great in mature age and creating successful stylizations. It encourages you to browse your wardrobe carefully, combine the old with the new and, above all, add as many colors as possible to your outfits and accessories.

Kimiko Nishimoto

It's time for a trip to Japan, where 90-year-old Kimiko Nishimoto makes a great career online as a kind of queen of humor and fun. It also shows that it is never too late to try something new.

At 72 for the first timegrabbed the camera and took part in photography lessons taught by her son. After 18 years, she already has 218,000 followers on Instagram, and has also become one of the biggest network stars in Japan.

Just look at her profile - she takes and edits photos on her own, she captures herself in funny poses (with a can of beer, on a broom or with straws in her nose). Her son also helps her in everything. She even had a photo exhibition in the "real" world.

As she admits, taking and publishing photos gives her a lot of happiness. He also intends to do this as long as he is alive and capable. And since Japan is a country of longevity, we can only wish Kimiko he alth and perfect energy so that her passion will last a long time.

Sarah Jane Adams

She started her Instagram account at the age of 62 to promote her own jewelry. Nevertheless, her profile also delighted with colorful stylizations and a positive, non-standard approach to age. Currently, he has over 182,000 followers on Instagram.

Sarah Jane Adams also smuggles in important feminist and equality content in her posts. Since 2015, he has been using the hashtag mywrinklesaremystripes, which is a manifesto and a kind of rebellion.

Why? It started when she got an offer to mask wrinkles with makeup, and the heroine did not like it. He claims that we live in strange times - a face without make-up refinements, and above all showing it openly, is considered a sign of courage.

Today Sarah lives in Sydney and, as she says, the secret of success is not clothes or jewelery, but her approach to life - far from stereotypes related to, in particular, age.

In her youth she was a hippie, and later a punk - she tries to combine both cultural traditions in stylizations, which results in a colorful, creative, eclectic and fantasy effect.

Sarah's uncompromising nature means that she also has opponents with whom she tries to talk, but also keeps a he althy distance.

Considers Instagram to be a kind of tool, mainly pictorial, for communicating important content. However, it is not a substitute for live contacts, which are more important.

Lance Walsh

58-year-old London fruit seller has long delighted only his customers. After all, street culture photographer Ben Awin spotted him - and so began Lance's social media career. Today his Instagram profile is followed by over 52,000 people.

What makes his photos stand out? Most of all, colorful, creative stylizations in whichyou can see a large influence of the urban style, and it is typical of much younger people. Even though "Vogue" depicted him, Lance tries to keep a he althy distance from her fame. He does what he always does - so he dresses creatively.

On his profile we will not find a lot of fashion hashtags or other attempts to draw attention to himself. Most of all, "youth" stylizations speak. He himself claims that he does not read comments … and computer skills have many secrets for him.

Lyn Slater

Age 65, Master of Laws, Doctor of Social Policy - Lyn Slater is known more broadly as the Accidental Icon. She is followed on Instagram by well over 600,000 people.

With what it delights? First of all, great fashion stylizations. 5 years ago she was noticed at the New York Fashion Week. Her career in social media quickly gained momentum, even becoming one of the symbols of the anti-aging trend.

As she admits, she has a lot of a child in her imagination. He treats fashion as a way to creatively express himself and create new identities. She lives in New York, so she has plenty of fashion inspiration. But it does not focus on expensive brands - the price of the clothes does not matter as much as the styling effect.

As befits an academic employee, he also tries to properly educate people and motivate them to look for their own style, thanks to which the complexes disappear and you can fully accept yourself.

Interestingly, the largest group of her fans are people much younger, aged 20-30. They dream of being like Lyn Slater in their mature age.

Iris Apfel

The list also included a fashion and style icon - Iris Apfel. Born in 1921 (!), Art historian, businessman, philanthropist and model, she became famous for her strength of character and great sense of fashion, and is considered a person … quite eccentric.

Mainly because she completely breaks all age-related stereotypes, and her Instagram profile (currently 1.3 million followers) delights with colorful photos and videos.

It is difficult to summarize the story of her rich life in a few sentences. It is definitely worth mentioning that thanks to her, seniors could enter high fashion. Like Sarah Jane Adams, she doesn't try to mask her wrinkles at all.

Her achievements include the interior design of the White House for as many as nine presidents, as well as the famous 2005 exhibition "Rara Avis (Rare Bird): The Irreverent Iris Apfel" (Metropolitan Museum of Art), where she showed her outfits and jewelry.

Visitors could not believe that all the stylizations were ever worn - but this is all Iris Apfel, who was able to appear in a 19th-century liturgical vestment at a ceremonial banquet. This, moreover, shows her distance to conventions.

Moon Lin

She is 91 years old and is the Taiwanese queen of… streatwear, or urban fashion. Her Instagram account has been followed by over 100,000 people.

Moon Lin admitted in an interview with HYPEBAE that when she was over 80, she did not want to leave the house at all due to he alth problems.

She found the joy of life in colorful, comfortable stylizations, characteristic of young people. He lives his own way, composes his wardrobe individually and does not try to follow trends at all. This is what she won the hearts of Internet users with.

Linda Rodin

He is 71 years old and has over 250,000 followers on Instagram. She became the star of the network in her mature age, but her full biography is just as colorful. She was a student, immigrant in Italy, model, employee of an art gallery, bookstore and stylist. She also worked as a fashion editor at "Harpers's Bazaar".

If that was not enough, he has his own line of cosmetics, Olio Lusso. It is a shining example of a creative approach to fashion by seniors.

Her Instagram captivates with colorful, bold, eclectic stylizations. In many photos, Linda poses with her poodle Winky.

Still active and full of ideas, although she lives in New York, she does not say that she will stay that way for good. Certainly, you can learn about her new adventures on social media.

Barbara Kwarc phenomenon

Finally, it is worth referring to the Polish recent history and recalling one of the first Polish Youtubeteers - Barbara Kwarc (born Barbara Rogowska).

Even a decade ago, she was one of the biggest stars of the Polish network, and even earned the nickname "queen of the internet".

It all started with the quasi-documentary internet series "Klatka B". Barbara Kwarc definitely stood out among the heroes - uncompromising, vulgar, using a lot of expressions from the language of youth. This is what she won the hearts of viewers - especially the younger ones.

After the broadcast of "Klatka B" was finished, the project "Baśka Blog" was launched, which consists of almost 300 episodes - several minutes long films on a wide range of topics (social, pop culture, sometimes purely satirical).

Barbara Kwarc, like in the previous series, is bursting with energy and uses a language that is characteristic of her. Manymoreover, Internet users believed that such a character really exists - meanwhile, it was only the creation of Barbara Rogowska.

Media wrote about her phenomenon, she also appeared on TV. In recent years, her fame has faded a bit, although she constantly takes part in many events (as "the queen of events"), and from time to time also publishes new films on the Internet. Currently, due to he alth problems, we can see it only occasionally.

Also read:

More and more elderly people in Poland. Senior care should be a priority for the state

How to create an account on Facebook? Tutorial for seniors

Linguistic image of seniors in Polish

Category:

Geriatrics