The content creator who lives rent-free in my head
Man, the things that show up on my Instagram feed.
A few weeks ago, creator Raegan Lynch started to pop into my scroll. I don’t know what it is that made me stop and watch her, but suddenly, I was sucked in.
The premise of her account is super simple: she’s starting her life over because she went through a bad breakup that caused her to lose her whole social circle (woo girl, been there, done that).
But here’s the catch.
The content? It’s freaking stunning.
Like…every video is a production.
Watch what I mean:
I can’t just let this be fun and simple entertainment—and I can’t get over what I’m seeing. Things like…
All the camera angles and the lighting.
In the clip above, there’s 13 different camera angles, and each angle has several cuts that let her shorten the time between activities—things like putting on makeup, getting dressed, doing her hair, etc. The picture is continuously crisp, the lighting fairly flawless (by social media standards)—and yet she’s basically in an attic.
That, kids, is planning. It’s work.
The fourth wall breaks.
I don’t know if the fourth-wall breaks are clever or cringeworthy.
I’m pretty guilty of using this tactic in scripts that I’ve written because I love the idea of interacting with a narrator voiceover, so it tickles me to see it every time.
I want to love it, but there’s something that makes me scratch my head a little, and I can’t quite put my finger on it.
The hook.
Almost every episode starts with, “Day [#] of starting my whole life over.” I freaking love this, and I think it’s one of the things that threw me into the deep end on this account.
I didn’t stumble on Day 1 initially—I think I caught her somewhere around Day 5, but you can bet I immediately hightailed it to her profile and scrolled until I found Day 1.
I wanted—no, needed—to see where this story started. And not only that, I wanted to see where it went.
The storyline.
On that note, she’s woven such an intriguing storyline with perfect little cliffhangers that leave you wanting more.
For instance, at the beginning of the story, she talks about how she’s decided to move to a completely new city that she’s never been to before. She doesn’t reveal the city until a few episodes later.
In the meantime, we get to see her packing, traveling, hopping on a plane…and then we find out it’s not just a new city, it’s a whole new country.
But still, we don’t know which one until she touches down.
I found myself going onto Instagram and searching for her by name just to keep up. I didn’t want to miss a post because I didn’t go deep enough into my feed.
The scripting.
I need to reiterate that this is not the kind of thing that just gets thrown together.
And yet, it all seems so natural, even when there’s so much that feels unnatural. Raegan feels genuine; she seems excited and actually nervous, like this is a real thing going on in her life.
But is it?? It’s so clearly scripted—my god, the effort that goes into this! So, is it real? Or is it all fabricated?
When did she start planning all of this? Is it a creative outlet? Is she in film school? Or are we just entering a dystopian world where this is what we do now?
And yet…good on her. I can’t say enough how much work goes into something like this, and whatever the motivations or situation, I’m impressed.
THE COMMENTS!
Her viewers are giving her real suggestions to the problems in her storylines—things like, “where do I go to meet new people?” and “what do you talk about on a friend date?”
I read them and I think, do they think this is real? IS IT REAL?? Am I the crazy one?
I don’t know if my skepticism is healthy or unnecessary, but I could never take this that seriously and delude myself into thinking she’s a real person asking real questions. This is TV to me.
But obviously, there are a few camps of thought where that’s concerned.
Are there any actual takeaways here?
I think so.
Maybe it’s just an interesting cultural case study—back in the day, we used to share blurry pictures of stupid things and basically use Instagram as a diary of pointless moments. Exhibit A: my first post ever:
Yeah, it’s weird, but there wasn’t much of a question about whether things were real or not.
Then marketers got ahold of it; then influencers blew up.
Now, there’s so many different ways to promote and make money on social media, and creativity like Raegan’s is one way to win with it.
This is the new entertainment industry
Take a look at her link in bio—she’s linking to her haircare products, her skincare products, her filming equipment. And when you buy from those links, she’s getting affiliate kickbacks.
She’s probably monetized on TikTok, and she has an agent linked at the bottom of her link page, so she’s got representation.
It basically is a TV show, and she’s the main talent.
This kind of content creation is a full-time job
It’s a whole new way to make a living that we couldn’t have even dreamed of a few years ago—and she makes it look so easy.
But to pull off this kind of social media, it’s anything BUT easy. It’s a business.
You need someone to plan/concept, to script/storyboard, to edit, to do the VO, to post the content, to respond to the comments…she may be doing it all herself, and if she is, good on her!
But also, every time she walks away from the camera, all I can think is—is she leaving her phone unattended on a tripod in the middle of London?!?!
It’s wild.
It shows the value of story and humanity
Once more for the people in the back: this is a business. Yet there’s absolutely nothing that screams ‘business’ about it.
And while most of us aren’t going to make an episodic narrative out of our day-to-day, I think as business owners or social media managers, we can use stuff like this to help us understand the power of human narrative.
How can a CEO look more approachable?
How you can you tell a more realistic story about a new product, service, or facility?
I know my wheels are turning, and I hope yours are, too.
Editing to add…
As I was making the graphics for this post, I stumbled on a comment from the creator, responding to someone who asked how she can be on “Day 27” when the first day was posted 3-4 months prior. And her response has my jaw on the floor.
So she’s either:
A) WILDLY creative and talented, or
B) really committed to keeping up the narrative.
The obsession continues!
Pssst: wanna work with me? I’m open for operations consulting, marketing consulting, brainstorming sessions, and more. Reach out below.