Older influencers aren’t a new phenomenon in the creator economy, but their entry on TikTok has really resonated with viewers below their peer demographic. Fashion influencer Grece Ghanem’s comments on TikTok mostly come from younger fans, in awe of her chic European outfits or her incredibly tanned skin. “Dear God please let me age as beautiful and elegant as this one,” she wrote one. “If I’m not like this when I’m older, I’m not doing it right,” said another. A woman who started working out in her 70s and now runs a fitness program for older women, Train With Joan has inspired nearly 2 million followers with her fitness pivot that came later in life.
There is a comfort in seeing these older women still living their best lives. Lifestyle content is meant to help you figure out how you want to live, so listening to these women who have experienced long and complex lives, and are still radiant and happy and full of joie de vivre makes me more inclined to listen. to their advice on diet, shopping, beauty and fitness, because they truly have lived to try it all. “For brands, women in their 40s, 50s and 60s have a lot more money to spend,” Tan said. “And they’re more savvy.”
Wendy Euler, an age positivity influencer on Instagram, told me that there really isn’t a space for middle-aged women to exist online. “She was 49 years old, she was about to turn 50 and she was looking for any kind of inspiration,” she said. “But all I could find were women trying to be 30, or women who were in a ball because of divorce or menopause.”
Euler’s content is aimed at women ages 40 to 60, but she said she understands the growth of influencers of all ages on TikTok. “There are so many things that are completely boring,” she said. “It’s just not real: women who are skinny and wear a bikini and jump off a mega yacht. I mean, if I were younger, I’d probably want to accept the party invitations too. With age should come the knowledge not to sell yourself to brands you don’t even believe in.”
As the sausage-making of the influencer economy crumbles, it will be harder for creators to sell the idea of a hypothetical perfect life to consumers who know most of it is fake anyway. That’s why they can keep the vlogs of recent college graduates working at startups. I am listening to the wise words of our very elegant ancestors.
Source: www.buzzfeednews.com