When You Give an Old Man an Instagram
When you give the right old man an Instagram, he’s going to want to post—a lot. And when he wants to post, he’s going to need content. And when he needs content, a masterpiece emerges and the universal cuteness meter is blown to smithereens.
If you’re one of the many people who believe anyone older than 65 is not exactly technologically savvy (we won’t even mention their opinions on social media), you might have to think again.
Meet Geoffrey Walker, the elderly Englishman who’s accrued more than 32,300 followers on Instagram. Rising to fame after this Twitter account posted about him, he uses this platform adorably and creatively to share inspirational quotes, photos of his family and videos of his sweet wife, Pauline. Go ahead and take a gander at his collective masterpiece. You’ll wish you had a grandpa Walker, too.
Every time he hits that “share” button, his followers grow, his engagement rises and he somehow manages to get even cuter. With every post, he breaks down the stereotype cast upon his generation. The man knows how to use emojis for goodness sake.
Mr. Walker is innocently famous because his posts are downright darling. But beyond the cuteness factor, they’re also simple, raw and authentic. He’s not worried about what filters to use or posting two or three times in an hour—he posts to share both the interesting and uninteresting days in his life, and that’s all there is to it.
So there’s a lesson here somewhere.
When I stumbled across Mr. Walker’s Instagram account, I was immediately curious. Aside from his age, what makes his account unique and worth following on a busy channel? Then I looked harder. His photos are a window into the life of an Englishman you know. He loves his family above all, is the proudest grandpa you’ve ever met (besides mine, of course), and lives to encourage others. And I connected with that.
Instagram is a place for both beautiful curation and low-quality photography. The bottom line is that people are attracted to those who embrace reality by not conforming, who are genuine and exude love for those near and far.