Under the Influencers
Content worth scrolling: Shonda, Kareem, poets, politics, news and nudes
I hear a lot about the importance of authentic voice and honesty in writing, although sometimes something within me pushes back and says “don’t do it, Alex.”
Between drudging up memories of moments of selfishness and putting forward my own dumb opinions about the latest war, my reflections online these last two weeks made me feel, oddly, extra vulnerable in the non-digital “real world”. I defer to another Substack I wrote years ago about wanting to write honestly and how that means I have to accept some people won’t like me for it. Alternatively and even worse, maybe none of my worries are founded and people simply don’t read anymore, at all. Once again, it’s all in my head.
For tonight’s Substack, to take the pressure of my incessant internal dialogue, I am writing about Instagram accounts I love. Let’s share something less psychologically evaluative and dangerous for future employers/ in-laws to dig up and scratch their heads over.
Here are Instagram accounts I passionately love and why you, if you have accepted social media and its fate in your life, should also love too. In no particular order I give you good content!
Subway Takes is a daily interview with the charming host Kareem and a person on (usually) NYC’s Subway. Sometimes the guest is a famous comedian or a rising influencer or sometimes they’re just a random person. Subway Takes is 90 seconds of rambling, but trust me, it is the best. I adore Kareem. I adore that he is normalizing (and celebrating) taking public transportation. I respect that he welcomes almost every single opinion, from the incredibly controversial (bring back segregation) to the sensationally silly (you need a degree to become a DJ). I love that, like Humans of New York, his account displays the multitudes of cultures and perspectives that make up the US, and I love that at least in front of the camera, he remains cheeky and cool no matter what insane thing is said to him. Subway Takes uses social media to make the world better, and yet it also created a job for Kareem and a platform for the wonderful crazy guests he features. I wish I came up with this idea! I am jealous of Kareem, and I dream one day he will invite me to be on Subway Takes. (I am constantly thinking about what my take might be if I got an invite.) Every morning as soon as I check Insta a new Subway Takes pops up and even if it’s a man saying how ‘the best way to get a woman is to be gay,’ or someone saying ‘going to heaven would suck,’ it always makes me pause, smile and wonder at the fantastic range of opinions out there on the streets of New York.
Another Instagram account I love and have loved for years is WhoIsShonda. I don’t know how the algorithm found and delivered Shonda to my content-hungry eyes and unrelenting thumbs, but I am grateful. Every time I see her on my screen she gets me grinning. Shonda is a hairy vegan American woman who is all about doing everything the natural way, with sass. She flaunts her naturalness on the internet with a boldness I could only dream of. Sometimes she’s out there taking out her false teeth. She has hundreds of thousands of followers and when some troll chastises her for her body hair or makes a nasty comment about her white boyfriend or whatever it is, she just cackles in their face and keeps being unashamedly herself. The world needs more Shondas and more Shonda-inspired fruit smoothies.
Shonda would probably judge me fiercely for this next account but you gotta have balance right?
I love this Instagram account called Kein, and I have no idea who they are affiliated with or where they get their images from. They regularly share phots of sexy young thin women, and I know, I know, as a feminist I shouldn’t love this but I just think the images are cool and I like looking at them. Sometimes I like looking at stereotypically hot naked women in suggestive poses in exotic, luxurious places. Sorry everyone. What can I say, occasionally I abandon my principles and descend into shallowness.
To counter that frivolity, I gotta plug GroundNews, which keeps me honest and reminds me that there are many ways to comprehend the world. Whenever someone is losing their mind over the latest breaking bulletin, I check out what Ground News is saying. They post prolifically, but rather than regurgitating the news, they actually report on which news outlets say what. They regularly cover a range of headlines from different sources. Their mission statement is:
”Ground News isn't a news source bound by the political leanings of our writers or parent company. Ground News isn't a news aggregator, throwing hundreds of headlines at you that barely skim the surface. Ground News isn't a fact-checker, because we believe in empowerment, not enablement. We are a guide for news readers. Neutral in assessment, efficient in consumption, all in service of empowering you to make educated decisions for yourself.
On a mission to well inform the world, we make it easy for readers to think freely about the issues of our times.”
Ground News tells you blind spots for the right and the left, it tells you which and how many sources are reporting on what, and it throws in occasional offbeat news stories as well. Here’s a good example of Split Headlines:
Speaking of political spectrums, for a long time I have followed and appreciated The Political Compass. I’m not sure if it’s a group or individual who run it, but the content switches up occasionally. It seems like a multi-voiced platform, yet the tone is consistently clever with a touch of cynicism. I see seriously biased stuff on here, often left-leaning, but I appreciate the account’s awareness about how the world is and how politics are perceived by people depending on which way they lean.
During the pandemic I unfollowed dozens of political Instagram accounts (often content I agreed with) because they overdid the self righteousness. I had to keep Political Compass though. There’s a nice acceptance and ambivalence towards their audience that comes with their memes and I am here for it. How refreshing.
Last but not least, we must have poetry. I follow so many poetry accounts on Instagram, but it’s the dark bitterness of Poetic Outlaws that needs to specifically recognize. Poetic Outlaws perk me up like my first whiff of brewing coffee in the morning. It puts me in my place like the last sip of shiraz before the night starts to spin. It was on Poetic Outlaws’ page where I found the Wendell Berry poem that I was inspired to memorize. (They also have a Substack account I follow.) I like the twisted tortured poets they feature and how every single line I read seems meaningful. It’s fairly male-poet-centric, but that’s okay because I follow lots of other accounts that make up for it. (I also love the female poet society!) But I keep coming back to Poetic Outlaws because everything they feed me is so damn intense.
So there you have it, my very own beloved biases within the warm and engulfing walls of my echo chambers. Stuff like the above is what I see every single day in my digital world. So many accounts I failed to mention, but Shonda, Kareem, poets, politics, news and nudes are some of the best!
Don't follow Kein, they are part of the problem