An Instagram icon returns
ShitBloggersPost on covering new social media trends after a two-year hiatus.
Embedded is your essential guide to what’s good on the internet, written by Kate Lindsay and edited by Nick Catucci.
Who will be the first brave soul to start “ShitNewslettersPost”? Fine I’ll do it. —Kate
I’m not one for accounts that dogpile on influencers. “Girl with phone is dumb” was last edgy in 2016, and yet the trope still does insane numbers in toxic spaces like InfluencersInTheWild. On the surface, ShitBloggersPost appeared to be just another anti-influencer page. But the 60k-follower-strong account did something different: tongue-in-cheek trend reporting, endorsed by influencers themselves. And now it is back, after a two-year hiatus.
The account returned on March 12 to declare that “pregnancy” is the hot new trend, citing a slew of creators, like Nara Aziza and Jaci Marie Smith, who had announced they were expecting. In the weeks since, ShitBloggersPost has covered trends like airplane tray table flat lays, the application of faux freckles with broccoli, and photos of creators crossing the street that are taken from above.
“brb writing off my car as a ✨work expense✨” reads the caption of a recent slideshow of creators in the passenger seat of their cars.
“god i love being a basic b,” Jami Alix, a creator whose photo made the roundup, commented.
This is the typical relationship between ShitBloggersPost and their subjects. Those who respond, the account’s anonymous spokesperson says, do so gamely, and are happy to be part of the fun.
“Some things in general are silly, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad,” they say over email. “To each their own; we’re not here to judge.”
In this interview, we chatted about coming back to Instagram after their hiatus, what’s changed in social media trends since they started documenting them, and what’s coming next for bloggers (specifically, the shit they post).
When and why did you start ShitBloggersPost?
Not to bring up global trauma, but SBP started spring 2020, so that’s peak Covid, baby! We literally had no choice but to be chronically online at that point, and that’s when we started to notice how often we’d spot the same content over and over. One of our favs is a post that just read “SUNDAY” in a light blue font, and each time we saw it it just got a little more cropped each time. Honestly, we just noticed it so much that we decided to make an account out of it. It would be an opportunity to make light of the absurdity that we were all going through at that time. So out came SBP!
What can you share about the person or people behind the account?
We kind of like the ambiguity around the number of us behind the account! The whole point is to not have our own personal opinions or background influence anything. We don’t have an opinion or “take,” just relevant observations and a great personality 😉
What is your media diet like—what do you consume that allows you to able to pick up on these trends?
Honestly, our explore page is literally golden. It is tailored to a tee. Aside from that, we are social media fiends, so we have accounts we follow personally, and when we spot a trend, we save those posts first and the explore page catches on quick and starts flooding us with similar posts. And then there’s trend forecasting, right? There are some girls that you just know are starting something and we already have our eyes on what we think it’s going to be next. And sometimes the girl we think is starting something, actually got influenced by someone else!
How do you feel about the trends that you document? Do you think they're silly, or are you genuinely interested?
We are genuinely interested! Honestly, part of the anonymity is so that we don’t put our own judgment or thoughts onto the trend. But then, you know, some things in general are silly, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad either! To each their own; we’re not here to judge.
Do you receive submissions? What is your relationship with your audience like?
We do! We love receiving submissions! To be totally honest, a lot of them are trends we’re already on top of, but every once in a while there will be one that wasn’t on our radar, and we’re so appreciative of that insight. People are so engaged with us both in the comments and through DMs and tbh the majority of them have fucking great attitudes and similar senses of humor, which is so refreshing.
Have you ever interacted with the bloggers themselves?
We do! The majority of the girls we post that do engage with us are engaging positively! They typically have the same sense of humor around it all that we do, and don’t seem to take offense, which is AMAZING, because obviously no offense is intended. We can make light of things and also not tear each other down.
You just returned after time off. What was most surprising about the scene when you came back? What has changed?
Honestly, the trends have just become more obscure, and while people hop on the same trends, there genuinely does seem to be more emphasis on originality lately. Gen Z is fully in the picture rn, and those girls are totally changing the game. Styling has changed, posing has changed, photo dumps have definitely changed, but that’s how trend turnover works so we’re totally here for it and rolling with the waves of the fashion/social media world.
Do you have any big picture observations about the content creator industry over the years? What else has changed about it since you started?
When we started in 2020, TikTok was JUST becoming more popular, so the focus was still heavily on aesthetic photos. The biggest change since coming back has been the emphasis on video. Instagram rolling out Reels to compete with TikTok has made the notion of copying much more normalized simply because of trending sounds. Video has also made it so much easier to get to know people personally whereas photos were a little more limited in the past. Social media is more saturated now than ever, so individuating and creating a community that follows you for something specific and/or personal is becoming increasingly important!
So much of content creation has moved to video. Will you start incorporating that into your work? What about TikTok?
Yes! We actually just posted one of our first Reels highlighting the broccoli freckles trend. Like we mentioned above, copying trends is so normalized when it comes to TikTok and Reels, so we’re getting as specific as possible with what we post. For example, all the girls doing the broccoli trend made the same “wow!” face when first applying the makeup, so we combined that with the ridiculousness of the trend to make it a lot funnier!
What other goals do you have for the account now that you've returned?
We have plenty of ideas up our sleeves, but for now, we’re just enjoying reconnecting with the community we built. We love being a space to both laugh at the absurdities of social media AND to get genuine inspiration from. Who knows? Maybe SBP needs their own fashion trend in the future ;)