“So, I bought an abandoned house.”
This is how almost every post on 28-year-old Jenna Phipps’ Instagram account has started since February 1, when she showed off a dilapidated 1950s home replete with mould, broken doorways, two pianos and a pool overrun with weeds to her followers.
A-list influencers are pivoting away from traditional collaborations and endorsements and moving into property development and home renovation.Credit: Artwork: Bethany Rae
Before then, Phipps’ online content was mostly videos of her crocheting jumpers, and though her following was large by many standards (150,000), she was hardly a household name among influencers.
Just two months on from her first home video, though, Phipps’ following has grown to 1.8 million, and the words “Jenna Phipps’ Abandoned Home” has more than 153 million views on TikTok.
Understandably, she’s put down her crochet hook and is posting weekly updates on rotten ceiling beams and decomposing carpet. Followers mansplain the danger of mould in the comments section, cheer her on with likes, and speculate whether she’s actually doing the work herself.
Maybe it’s because my own home is only fractionally more polished than Phipps’ infested new abode that I’ve jumped on the bandwagon of home-reno obsessives (though unlike Phipps, I merely rent).
There’s a particularly bitter Reddit forum called “craftsnark” where Phipps’ spurned OG fans express their concerns about her new direction. (“I don’t see how she can continue with her regular craft content while she’s fixing up this lemon,” one user notes.)
But crocheters aren’t the only fans being left reeling. Increasingly, the influencers I follow are leaving once traditional content streams like beauty and fashion behind for glass decanters, hinoki side tables and pliers.
Not too long ago, one of my favourite beauty and fashion gurus casually mentioned during an unboxing video that she would be turning her third bedroom into a home office/studio. I paused my scrolling, no longer occupied by the Chanel lipsticks she was unveiling. A third bedroom? I was starting to feel the bonds of our parasocial relationship straining.
‘I bought an abandoned house’: How home renos became the new domain for influencers
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24.04.2024
“So, I bought an abandoned house.”
This is how almost every post on 28-year-old Jenna Phipps’ Instagram account has started since February 1, when she showed off a dilapidated 1950s home replete with mould, broken doorways, two pianos and a pool overrun with weeds to her followers.
A-list influencers are pivoting away from traditional collaborations and endorsements and moving into property development and home renovation.Credit: Artwork: Bethany Rae
Before then, Phipps’ online content was mostly videos of her crocheting........
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