Last week, a TikTok video went viral for calling New York influencers “boring as fuck.” While the video’s creator, @martinifeeny, wanted to share her opinion with her limited number of followers, it ended up on what seemed like everyone’s “For You” page. It did not go over well, infuriating NYC influencers who assumed the video was about them. However, the creator never revealed the people she was talking about.
Her description (“They all wear the same bracelets, they look like they shop at Revolve, they’re all basic — but they’re skinny and pretty, so stuff looks cute on them”) was quite clear. She was talking about a particular subset of influencers. You know the ones. For Black women and other people of color, as well as born-and-bred New Yorkers, it felt obvious: The conversation was not about them. But that’s also part of the problem. “New York City influencers are not a monolith,” says creator Nana Agyemang. And when it comes to what we’re consuming, even if it’s boring, creator Jazmine Brown says, “we’re not helpless to what comes across our page.” So we gathered 18 influencers whose content we enjoy to hear what they had to say about the discourse.
When you saw the “NYC influencers are boring” video, what did you immediately think?
Chinyere Adogu @the_real_chi_: I understood she was talking about the people who have moved here and created this Sex and the City façade.
Simi Muhumuza @simimoonlight: I left a comment where I said, “I feel like maybe it’s because you don’t follow any Black women or POC,” because your algorithm feeds you what you want to see. I just wanted to give her a suggestion.
Amina Cocoa @aminacocoa: I laughed because I knew she wasn’t talking about me. Being raised in New York had its pros and cons, especially going to public school in New York City. I was never picked first for anything. I grew up dark-skinned, and in a bigger body, African; the things that are admired now were not always the case for me. Even if that comment were directed toward me, I still wouldn’t have felt any type of way.
Blake Newby @blakenewby_: My first thought was, Your “For You” page gives you what you want. If your entire FYP is 6 a.m. matcha and Lagree classes, then you’re liking or commenting on 6 a.m. matcha and Lagree classes. And I know blonde creators who live in New York and who are a hell of a lot of fun, so you’re just spending your time engaging with content you don’t like.
Anayka She @anaykashe: I didn’t react because I knew that she was talking about certain white transplants who live in Manhattan.
Vivian Li @vivianyrl: I understood it as someone saying, “I want something new.” It is so valid for people to have critiques. If you are working in traditional marketing, if you’re selling something to someone, which every influencer is, then you have to listen to consumer feedback. That’s just how business works.
Chelsea Henriquez @chelseaasoflate: My conversations were very much like, “We need more of us.” I am a born-and-bred New Yorker, and we want more New Yorkers to have platforms and to get exposure. Because if you’re seeing only one side of New York, it’s probably because you’re not looking.
Scot Louie @scotfknlouie: I understand why it would be boring. They’re all brand-safe and opinion-safe.
Brittany Taylor James @look_its_britt: It took me back to a video I saw three years ago, when many people were coming into New York around COVID and all the girls had on the black tube tops, the blue jeans, and the white Uptowns. People are feeling as though if something is working for one person, it’s going to work for all, so they’re going to emulate that. A lot of people haven’t found themselves but call themselves influencers. To be an influencer, you have to be organically you, no matter what.
Jodie Taylor @jodiektay: I looked at my FYP, which is mostly women of color. They are posting about politics, hair care, beauty, traveling; they have perspectives. The difference is there’s a subset of New York City influencers that are focused on aesthetics. When you curate your FYP to only be aesthetics, yes, it will feel boring. Because it’s the same aesthetic copy and pasted over and over and over again.
After Simi shared her comment, some of you were shouted out in the comments as someone people should follow. How did that feel?
Lauren W. @laurenthelolife: Sometimes I think nobody’s watching me, but to have people be like, “Here is somebody that is not boring and a great person to follow and is my comfort creator,” I was like, Y’all mess with me.
Nana Agyemang @itsreallynanaaa: I have made such an effort to bring about a community in New York City and to make sure that women of all brown skin tones are not seen as a monolith. And to be named, I honestly felt seen. It’s like my Grammy Award.
Skylar Kearney @skylarmarshai: We were all putting our friends on; we know we have to do it for each other because brands don’t, and neither does the algorithm. We realized that back in 2020, when brands were throwing out more of the black squares. They said, “We’re going to invite you to the table.” Then with the recent politics and landscape, it’s being snatched back. We knew at any point it could flip because it was never really authentic. So let’s create our own table.
Shelcy and Christy Joseph @nycxclothes: We’ve always been influencers who’ve been known alongside New York City — our handle is literally @nycxclothes — so it was super-validating.
Blake Newby: The girls who love me have always loved me, and I haven’t switched up on them and they haven’t switched up on me. It’s an honor.
Scot Louie: I don’t want you to see me as just another Black creator. It’s not up to us to have to condition you to be diverse. That’s the beauty of TikTok: Their discovery tools are so much wider than any other platform. I’ve discovered people in STEM, and I still don’t even know what the hell STEM is.
How can you create variety in your “For You” page?
Nana Agyemang: People tend to follow and engage with people who look like them, but you have to push yourself to get out of that mind-set. I know that it’s hard for women who are not Black to follow women who are Black, and that’s really unfortunate because Black people have always had to modify themselves to whatever atmosphere and whatever community that we enter. We always have to mold ourselves to fit other people’s communities, but people aren’t as willing to come and engage with us.
Amina Cocoa: You have to do the due diligence. It’s not only just on the influencer side of things; it’s also on the brand side. Brands need to make sure that they’re hiring people to ensure representation. Brand marketers, it’s your job to actually look for talent. Do not say, “I’m casting talent that pops up on my ‘For You’ page.”
Anayka She: TikTok does a hundred percent push white creators. Even if what the white creators are serving is mediocrity, they are pushed.
Lauren W.: The big clownery gets served to everyone. But there’s just too niche of content to think we’re all getting served up the same things. If you seek out the things that you want to see, you can see them. I made a video about a month ago now about how I was talking with my co-workers who aren’t Black. We were talking about Black hair, and they were telling me about Black creators I’d never seen before. And I’m like, ‘How are you getting served up this?’ And then in the video, there were multiple comments from non-Black people being like, “I love her. She’s great. I get served up these videos all the time. I never skip her videos.” And I’m like, Well, these are non-Black people telling me they’re going out of their way to support and engage with these things because it’s what they want in their “For You” page. If you want it that bad, go out and get it.
Is it on the person to diversify their page or the system that promotes certain influencers over others?
Simi Muhumuza: It’s up to the consumer to decide to consume something different. As much as I would love to sit here and say, “Let’s change the algorithm,” in reality the algorithm is fed by the consumer. On one hand, yes, the algorithm does suppress Black people on the timelines, but then on the other hand, the reason why they suppress us is because there are not enough consumers consuming that content. That falls into a much larger, more nuanced conversation about being a consumer in society — what we’re taught to consume and how we’re taught to consume it.
Skylar Kearney: When we’re talking about systematic racism, that shows up on social media. You do have to work against it so that you can push the algorithm in that direction or keep up with creators who you’ve sought out. Even when you’re following and engaging, it’ll still try to push a specific type of influencer. And we need to be giving flowers to the people who are starting these trends, which has been an ongoing conversation on TikTok around dance credits.
Olivia Galli @oliviajoan18: The algorithm is designed to push out content from white creators. I’ll get 20 comments daily saying, “I haven’t seen you in months,” and “You’re never on my ‘For You’ page.” I’m posting the exact same amount. They’ll recognize it before I even do.
Nana Agyemang: We’re still going to engage with crappy people. No matter the negative things that they’re saying — no matter the harmful things, ignorant things — you’re still watching. We also have to be a bit more mindful of how we engage with our social-media platforms. We have to make an effort to go out of our way, and we need to stop depending on these social-media institutions to feed us that diversity.
Gess Pugh @gessflyy: Back in 2020, when George Floyd happened and everybody was like, “We need to be supporting Black creators,” you had this influx of people going and following all of these Black creators that non-Black creators were sharing, and there was no engagement. It was like, I have all of these people here, but they don’t actually care about me. It just made them feel better for the time. If you’re not engaged with my content, it’s doing more damage. I would love for more intentionality in people coming and saying, “I want to diversify,” but I just don’t trust that people want that.
Lauren W.: There’s a sense of awareness that needs to happen. If you follow me and then don’t engage — you don’t like, you don’t comment — then it’s performative. The good that came out of this conversation was that people who wanted to find new people were able to find them.
How do you define what makes an NYC influencer?
Scot Louie: There’s no right or wrong way to justify the term New York City influencer, because it’s someone who’s having their experience and New York is their backdrop. I don’t want to hoard the term. New York decides what New York looks like; it’s ever-changing. I am from old-school New York, where if I wanted to eat at a restaurant on Wednesday at seven o’clock, I could get up at seven o’clock on a Wednesday and go eat at a restaurant. Now, you better have your Resy notifications on; it’s Resy roulette. We live in TikTok’s New York now.
Vivian Li: When I first moved here, I was volunteering with this organization that distributed food to the Chinese grannies in Chinatown, and they wanted me to volunteer so badly because I could speak Chinese and communicate with them. And I was like, “Nothing would make me happier than talking to them.” But there needs to be discussion when it comes to New York City influencers because I have not seen some of my peers engage with this city at all. I mean, with the exception of buying up real estate, which I don’t know if that’s considered a method of engagement with your community. It doesn’t have to be volunteering or anything like that — it just has to be being true to yourself and reminding yourself why you moved here. Did you move here to eat Sweetgreen and go to CorePower? You can do that in any other city.
Anayka She: I’m from Brooklyn, and people from New York are really strict about being called a New Yorker. I feel like the real tell of a New York creator is somebody who is unafraid to speak their mind. New Yorkers, we’re not afraid. People cry on the train here, and you just bypass them. You need to be bold. A lot of people who move here are from smaller towns, and it reflects in their content and the way they move. Of course, they pick up little mannerisms and things like that, but I don’t know if you would consider them New York City influencers. I feel like that title should be for people who feature New York as a main part of their content. Maybe they were born and raised here, but I don’t think you’re a New York City influencer just because you move here and make content in New York City.
Gess Pugh: There’s not a time limit or a specific vibe that has to be had to be considered a New York City influencer. It just has to do with: Do you respect this place, and do you respect the people who have been here? Sometimes it can feel transactional: What can the city do for me? And it’s like, What are you doing for the city?
Lauren W.: Just because I’m not from here doesn’t mean I don’t have a perspective about what it’s like to live here. There should be some grace given to maybe why people consider themselves a certain type of way. I live here, and that’s why things may point toward me being an NYC influencer.
Simi Muhumuza: I would consider myself a New York City influencer, but if someone were to ask me where I’m from, I would never say New York, even if I’ve been here for 15 years. A good New York City influencer means engaging with the community outside the bubble of influencing and PR events.
Shelcy and Christy Joseph: It has to actively be part of your content. So whether it’s you constantly discovering the new places that New York has or engaging with the cultural institutions, that’s when you can start to call someone a New York City influencer. Just because you live in New York doesn’t by default make you a New York City influencer.
How do you think of new ideas for your content and what inspires you?
Amina Cocoa: My mom used to do hair on 125th Street. I got my style from the women whose hair my mom used to braid. I was obsessed with them. My guidance counselor used to wear mink fur with a Louis Vuitton bag. She was extra, and she owned it. And I love that. I was like, I want to be that. I don’t want to dim my light for anybody. So how I am now isn’t because of social media — it’s because of the environment that I grew up in. I was always surrounded by fly people. When it comes to my style and mannerisms, although influencing is my job, I didn’t pick it up from social media.
Jazmine Brown @thatcurlytopp: I get inspired by a lot of other fashion creators and what they’re doing and then I’ll throw in my own individual sustainability twist. I’m trying to make sustainable fashion more accessible to others. If people think, Why am I embarrassed to repeat the same thing over and over again?, I want to show that it’s cool to have your iconic outfit. That’s what a fashion icon is.
Gess Pugh: Sally Singer said, “If you want to work in fashion, look at everything but fashion.” That’s also true of content creation. I try to take my attention elsewhere, so I watch documentaries, read books, spend time with friends, and watch people. New York is great for that. If you don’t people-watch, why do you live here?
Simi Muhumuza: Sometimes I overhear a conversation and want to give my perspective on it. Sometimes I’ll go to a museum and really like the colors of this art piece, so it inspires me to make an outfit out of it.
Chelsea Henriquez: Living here the majority of my life, what inspires me the most about the city is that while it’s constantly changing, the essence of New York City remains the same. Take Williamsburg as an example. When I was in high school, it was a completely different neighborhood than it is now, but you still have your Puerto Rican flags flying, and the essence of what makes the neighborhood remains there. That can be said for any part of the city if you truly tap into that and look for it.
Chinyere Adogu: I love deep-diving into different cultures and cities and immersing myself in different things and places because that’s how I grew up in New York.
What makes you not boring?
Jodie Taylor: I wanted to show women that you can “have it all.” You can care about beauty and looking good and also figure out how to be a senior executive — be a good manager and get a promotion in six months, all while keeping good relationships. I wanted to be the person who was holistic in that and felt like I was missing in this space.
Anayka She: I’m just real. I posted a video a couple of weeks ago about me getting my root canal — the process and everything. I don’t necessarily want to be extremely curated and polished. That’s just not me. Sometimes I will have my cute little vlog, and sometimes I will have a nice edit, but sometimes I’m posting in bed and my hair is messed up and my dogs are barking.
Blake Newby: Everybody tells me when they watch my content, they feel like they’re talking to their older sister or their cousin or their fun daughter. I am somebody that so many Black women know in their lives, that when people watch my content, they’re like, Somebody I really love acts like Blake.
Skylar Kearney: My content is evocative as hell. People feel like they’re always getting some kind of emotional reaction to what I create, so it stays with them because I try to pour as much of myself into it as I can. Especially because in my community, there’s so much that we’ve had to work against to be seen and to take up space. So I try to do it in as many big ways as I can.
Shelcy and Christy Joseph: It’s always been this dialogue that we have two ways. We’re constantly engaging; we’re hosting events; we want to know what people are feeling about trends. It’s translated into people having less of an expectation of us being a persona and more of a curator. We’ve intentionally made it this way.
Scot Louie: People are nosy, and I talk a lot. I’m, like, the internet’s best friend.
Brittany Taylor James: I never really got views until I started to talk. I initially went on TikTok because my niece, who was 12 years old, told me to go on it for my lash brand. I was just trying to sell my lashes. And then one day I talked, and that video hit over a hundred thousand views — and then I went back to not talking, and it didn’t work. So I kept talking.
If you could suggest one NYC influencer to follow (that’s not here), who would it be and why?
Jodie Taylor: @enigivensunday. Eni is fantastic. She is the epitome of what a great content creator is.
Nana Agyemang: @claaarke. I really love Clarke because she stands on what she says, and she’s unapologetic. She’s very raw, honest, and she talks about politics, and it’s a tough time in the world to be speaking on that, especially as a woman of color. She is someone to follow and someone to look up to.
Simi Muhumuza: @aiyannace. I love her so bad, and I love that people are seeing the value in her content. It looks different from a lot of influencer content; she is just going on adventures in the city, and she really inspires me to be more open to interactions.
Skylar Kearney: @golloria. She’s getting to the root of really big issues in the beauty world while also serving looks and being a baddie.
Anayka She: @cedonifrancis. She’s extremely smart. She’s very tapped into the culture, and she’s a niche that deserves more attention.
Blake Newby: @browngirl_chee. She’s from New York, and she is one of the highest-ranking Black women at Coach. Everybody loves her.
Gess Pugh: @nicolettemason. She has been a guiding light for me for forever, and she’s such a wonderful human. She shares a very authentic view of her life.
Chelsea Henriquez: @byaimeekelly. I have to plug my best friend.
Brittany Taylor James: @zycalivlogs. She’s just a real-life New York girl. This is a girl you could end up being friends with.
Jazmine Brown: @thatadult. I love their mind.
Olivia Galli: @cheygren. She also has a corporate job in tech, so her content is a beautiful balance between her worlds. And her style is sensational.
Scot Louie: @gerardo.vrgs. He’s into fashion and fitness, and he has his own brand of eyewear. There’s so many people that I know who don’t see themselves as influencers but they’re influential people. They’re influential in my life. Those are the people we want to see. Your favorite influencer probably doesn’t have 10K. Your favorite influencer is probably just living their life, but they do it so well.
Shelcy and Christy Joseph: @latonyayvette and @kaiaventdeleon are two Brooklyn influencers we love.