My Internet: Alyssa Vingan
The New Garde host is not thrilled to be living through another pivot to video.
Embedded is your essential guide to what’s good on the internet, written by Kate Lindsay and edited by Nick Catucci.
Every two weeks, we quiz a “very online” person for their essential guide to what’s good on the internet.
Today we welcome Alyssa Vingan, host of the fashion and beauty industry podcast
. The former editor-in-chief of NYLON and Fashionista, she has recently written for SSENSE, ELLE, and GQ (where I am an editor). Alyssa has had Bella Hadid slide into her DMs and is actively trying to get better at eBay. —Nick
EMBEDDED: What’s a recent meme or post that made you laugh?
ALYSSA VINGAN: She was so real for this.
EMBEDDED: Do you tweet? Why?
ALYSSA VINGAN: I got discouraged from tweeting because the algorithm stopped working in my favor and it started to feel like I was posting into a void, so I do it rarely. I also refuse to pay for X. I am mostly a passive timeline observer now.
EMBEDDED: Do you post on Bluesky, Threads, or Substack’s Notes? Why?
ALYSSA VINGAN: I post on Substack Notes to promote my work (don’t forget to subscribe!) but I haven’t gotten into using it like Twitter or Tumblr like many other Substackers do.
EMBEDDED: What do you use Instagram for?
ALYSSA VINGAN: I mostly use Instagram for work these days: market research for fashion and beauty trends, new brands, etc. It’s also great for creative talent scouting and clocking who’s influencing the industry and culture at large in real time. I do promote my work on there, and while I don’t use the grid so much anymore, I enjoy posting on Stories. Follow me for a good time!
EMBEDDED: What types of videos do you watch on YouTube?
ALYSSA VINGAN: I love YouTube. I spend a decent chunk of time on it, especially since I no longer have cable. I watch a TON of music videos spanning genres and decades, which makes sense as I grew up on MTV during the TRL years. I pick the first song and then let the algorithm take the wheel. I probably watch more vlogs than the average 38 year old; I am pretty plugged into the LA influencer podcast scene, too, like Brooke Schofield and Tana Mongeau’s Cancelled. They do a good job of unpacking pop culture and pulling back the curtain on the influencer economy, which is important for my work. I also watch longform fashion commentary videos; Rian Phin and Mina Le are my go-tos, they’ve taught me so much.
EMBEDDED: Will you miss TikTok if it is eventually banned, and if so, what will you miss most about it?
ALYSSA VINGAN: I feel guilty saying this because people I know are getting a bag and building their brands on TikTok, but I will not miss it if it’s eventually banned. It has effectively destroyed my attention span. While there’s informative and very funny stuff on there if you train your FYP correctly, I’ve grown weary of the consumerism it drives, and we’ve platformed a lot of “experts” who are anything but.
EMBEDDED: Where do you tend to get your news?
ALYSSA VINGAN: Unfortunately I still spend a lot of time on X, so I often find my breaking news there (I double check to make sure it’s legit, of course). For fashion and beauty news, I rely on the Line Sheet team at Puck: Lauren Sherman, Sarah Shapiro, and Rachel Strugatz.
EMBEDDED: What are your favorite newsletters?
ALYSSA VINGAN: I subscribe to over 100 newsletters, and more than half of them are authored by my friends. This doesn’t answer your question but it gives you an idea about my newsletter consumption.
EMBEDDED: How do you think Substack has changed media, if at all?
ALYSSA VINGAN: I started my career in fashion media during the peak days of blogging—and at the dawn of the age of influencing—so I don’t see Substack shifting things in a way that hasn’t happened before. I am curious to see how Substack and similar models evolve, however, as the individual monthly subscriptions are expensive and add up quickly. Question for Substack, if you’re reading this: Why can’t people pay for a single post a la carte yet?
EMBEDDED: What’s one positive media trend? What’s one negative trend?
ALYSSA VINGAN: To me it’s a great thing that so many writers and creatives I know have felt empowered enough to strike out on their own, and have done so successfully. On the flip side, I’ve lived through one pivot to video already in my career and I’m not thrilled to be living through another. While I’m all for meeting audiences where they’re at, it does concern me that the public’s desire to read (and reading comprehension overall) is seemingly at an all-time low.
EMBEDDED: Are smartphones bad for us? Where do you fall on the Jonathan Haidt-Taylor Lorenz divide?
ALYSSA VINGAN: I would be lost without my smartphone, but the negative effects are undeniable. We are in a crisis of social skills. I get so bummed out every time I see a couple or a group of friends at a restaurant, looking at their phones instead of each other. True connection feels harder than ever, and I worry that some people have lost the ability to ~live in the moment~ completely.
EMBEDDED: What’s something that you have observed about the online behavior of Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and/or Boomers?
ALYSSA VINGAN: The Millennial crutch of “lol” is so real, and I too am guilty of it.
EMBEDDED: How do you find recommendations for what to watch, read, and listen to?
ALYSSA VINGAN: I follow a lot of editors and people of taste on social media, so I generally trust things they recommend via their Instagram Stories, Substacks, X posts, etc.
EMBEDDED: Have you had posts go viral? What is that experience like?
ALYSSA VINGAN: I used to go viral relatively often earlier in my career, close to a decade ago. It was all fun and games until the post left your corner of Twitter (which was in my case, Fashion Twitter) or you wrote something that upset the Stans of a particular celebrity. I fortunately only experienced this once or twice and bounced back pretty quickly. I had tweets about Bella Hadid go viral enough times that she followed me!
EMBEDDED: Who’s the coolest person who follows you?
ALYSSA VINGAN: As I just mentioned, Bella Hadid followed me after a couple of memes I made reached her. She even slid into my DMs a couple of times! It was one of my proudest career achievements, but at some point in the last couple of years she deleted her account, which was a tragic loss for me. Luckily, Naomi Fry still follows me. The coolest person I know!
EMBEDDED: Who’s someone more people should follow?
ALYSSA VINGAN: My brilliant former colleague Layla Halabian is one of the all-time great posters on Twitter. Do yourself a favor and follow follow her. She also writes a Substack called
EMBEDDED: Which big celebrity has your favorite internet presence, and why?
ALYSSA VINGAN: Technically it’s her parents who are the big celebrities, but I am obsessed with Romy Mars’s TikTok feed. She’s a comedic genius and I’m tickled every time she uses her mom (Sofia Coppola) as a prop for content.
EMBEDDED: Are you into any podcasts right now? How and when do you usually listen?
ALYSSA VINGAN: I do listen to a lot of fashion-adjacent podcasts—it’s my job!—but most of them sporadically, or based on the episode’s guest. Usually I listen while in transit since I walk or take the train most places, or while doing laundry or cleaning my apartment. I recently enjoyed Business of Fashion’s interview with Emily Oberg about building Sporty & Rich. John C. Reilly was delightful on
EMBEDDED: Have you ever been heavily into Snapchat? Do you miss it?
ALYSSA VINGAN: Do I miss Snapchat or do I miss 2016, the last good year and the only year that I used it?
EMBEDDED: What’s your go-to emoji, and what does it mean to you?
ALYSSA VINGAN: The salute emoji. I am a woman of my word, and if I am sending this to you, it means I’m On It. It’s also an affirmation in my faith in you if you tell me you’re setting out to accomplish something.
EMBEDDED: Do you text people voice notes? If not, how do you feel about getting them?
ALYSSA VINGAN: I am a huge proponent of voice notes, both sending and receiving. There’s no better way to get a scene report, gossip, or morning-after recap from a friend! I send them frequently, and they often have runtimes that are several minutes long. I suppose this isn’t surprising considering I chose to start a podcast last year.
EMBEDDED: Do you pay for a music streaming service, and if so, which one? What’s a playlist, song, album, or style of music you’ve listened to a lot lately?
ALYSSA VINGAN: I am an Apple Music user and have been for over a decade. Addison Rae’s debut album has gone platinum in my house, as have all of the singles from the upcoming Haim release. I’ve also been streaming a lot of Blondshell and Tate McRae. Summer is for the girls!
EMBEDDED: If you could only keep one streaming service for TV and/or movies, which would it be, and why? What’s a show that you’re really into right now?
ALYSSA VINGAN: I am a huge Bravo head, so going on that alone, I’d have to say Peacock. Much like the rest of America I am all-in on Love Island USA right now, which is also streaming on there.
EMBEDDED: What’s the most basic internet thing that you love?
ALYSSA VINGAN: Sylvanian Drama. They haven’t posted in a while, which is upsetting.
EMBEDDED: Do you regularly use eBay, Depop, or other shopping platforms? What’s a recent thing you’ve bought or sold?
ALYSSA VINGAN: I am actively trying to get better at eBay, setting alerts for very specific things I want. I love Depop, but I can lose a lot of hours browsing—same with The RealReal, which as a fashion lover, can be a huge time suck. I recently bought a pair of black Chanel slingbacks on TRR after watching them until they hit an additional 60 percent off. Patience is a virtue!
EMBEDDED: Have you recently read an article, book, or social media post about the internet that you’ve found particularly insightful?
ALYSSA VINGAN: I really appreciated E.J. Dickson’s reporting in The Cut about SkinnyTok and the influencer Liv Schmidt’s subscription-only group chat where members encourage and help each other to stay thin. There is a lot of scary Tumblr-era pro-ana content flooding social media, especially X and TikTok (I did a podcast episode about this last year), and I am glad people are openly talking about it.
EMBEDDED: What’s the last thing that brought you joy online?
ALYSSA VINGAN: There are a few! I got a kick out of Dakota Johnson’s press tour for Materialists, particularly her appearance on Hot Ones. She ranks very high on my list of both favorite celebrities and favorite nepo babies. I also loved the Sarah Jessica Parker interview on The Adam Friedland Show. Addison Rae did an impressive junket promoting her album — her interview with Quen Blackwell was chaotic and hilarious. I’ll be thinking about this clip for a long time.
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Thanks Alyssa! Listen to her podcast, follow her on Instagram, and contact her for freelance writing assignments.
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