My ex called me to wish me a happy birthday. Never talk to an ex on your birthday. I learned that lesson at ninety-five – these words were humorously delivered by content creator Grandma Droniak to her 14.8 million followers on TikTok and 3.5 million on Instagram in a video she created ahead of her 95th (!) birthday celebration.
Creating videos (with a little help from her grandchildren) is a completely normal part of Grandma Droniak’s daily life. The themes of her videos do not differ from those of younger influencers, as her audience prepares for a night out with her (the so-called GRWM or Get Ready With Me), while she rates her ex-boyfriends, critiques others’ fashion choices, creates beauty guides, or shares anecdotes from her life. On her profile, unlike those of average influencers, you will hear truly brutal dark humor, enriched by her favorite catchphrase – slay – as she often touches on her exes, whether they are alive or deceased. And while she slays while others cannot because, as she says, they are dead, the number of her followers continues to grow, making Droniak one of the most followed granfluencers, or influencers in their later years.
In addition to their age, such creators are regularly praised by the audience for their authenticity, creativity, ability to inspire, and for breaking stereotypes, proving that when it comes to spirit, age is truly just a number. In this sense, granfluencers are rare birds on social platforms, individuals whose wisdom is often packaged with good humor and who do not strive to be a perfect, filtered version of themselves because, with age, perhaps comes that feeling of not caring what others think – you are what you are. Thanks to this perspective and the real, practical experiences they share (slay because there is only one life!), they provide a new perspective on everyday life and, most importantly, the audience trusts them, allowing them to break through the influencer cacophony with their messages.
Powerful Crowd
Grandma Droniak is just one of the popular seniors who have a million-strong audience. This group also includes Cool Grandpa, whose humorous videos are followed by over ten million souls on TikTok, Judy Lynn Jennings aka Angry Grandma, who has gathered an audience of 4.6 million thanks to clips in which she shares her frustrations, Babs or Nonna, who delights her 4.2 million followers with her homemaking tips, or Baddie Winkle, whose charm, spirit, and eclectic fashion sense have attracted four million followers on Instagram, as well as a number of brands eager to connect with her.
Of course, this is just a fraction of the growing crowd of granfluencers who often build their brand in the digital world with the help of younger family members. The online magazine McKnight’s Senior Living noted that this phenomenon shows that seniors have a need to share their stories and wisdom with the audience, and the world learns that this is not actually a homogeneous group of people with limited interests, but individuals who, regardless of age, want to grow, learn, develop, have fun, and participate in society. Their efforts, their digital creations change the perception of aging, break the stereotype that they are passive consumers of technology, and show that they are active creators who can truly attract serious masses.
