Her daughter, a fitness coach, warned that she’d wind up an invalid if she didn’t turn things around. She did, hitting the gym for the first time and learning to balance her diet with the help of a brand new tool, an iPhone.
Now 75, MacDonald is a hype beast for health with a bodybuilder’s physique and 1.4 million loyal followers on Instagram.
She’s among a growing number of “grand fluencers,” folks 70 and up who have amassed substantial followings on social media with the help of decades-younger fans.
“It’s so rare to find someone her age being able to do all these things,” said one of her admirers, 18-year-old Marianne Zapata of Larchmont, New York. “It’s just such a positive thing to even think about.”
Both aspirational and inspirational, older influencers are turning their digital platforms into gold.
MacDonald has paid partnerships with the sportswear and supplement brand Women’s Best, and the stress-busting device Sensate. And she just launched her own health and fitness app not so many years after learning how to use digital technology herself.
On TikTok, four friends who go by @oldgays — the youngest is 65 — have 2.2 million followers, including Rihanna. They have an endorsement deal with Grindr as they delight fans with their clueless answers to pop culture questions.
Others focus on beauty and style, setting up Amazon closets with their go-to looks and putting on makeup tutorials live. Lagetta Wayne, at 78, has teens asking her to be their grandmother as she tends to her vegetables and cooks them up in Suisun City, California, as @msgrandmasgarden on TikTok.
Bu hikaye Techlife News dergisinin Techlife News #514 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Techlife News dergisinin Techlife News #514 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
META UNDER FIRE FROM EUROPEAN UNION FOR NOT DOING ENOUGH ABOUT ELECTION DISINFORMATION
The European Union said this week that it’s investigating Facebook and Instagram for suspected violations of the bloc’s digital rulebook, including not doing enough to protect users from foreign disinformation ahead of EU-wide elections.
SCAMMERS STOLE MORE THAN $3.4 BILLION FROM OLDER AMERICANS LAST YEAR, AN FBI REPORT SAYS
Scammers stole more than $3.4 billion from older Americans last year, according to an FBI report released this week that shows a rise in losses through increasingly sophisticated criminal tactics to trick the vulnerable into giving up their life savings.
THE TIKTOK LAW KICKS OFF A NEW SHOWDOWN BETWEEN BEIJING AND WASHINGTON.WHAT'S COMING NEXT?
TikTok is gearing up for a legal fight against a U.S. law that would force the social media platform to break ties with its China-based parent company, a move almost certainly backed by Chinese authorities as the bitter U.S.China rivalry threatens the future of a wildly popular way for young people in America to connect online.
LAWMAKERS AND ADVOCATES MAKE LAST-DITCH PUSH TO EXTEND AFFORDABLE INTERNET SUBSIDY
Twenty-three million families in the U.S. will have bigger internet bills starting in May. That’s because a federal broadband subsidy program they’re enrolled in is nearly out of money.
SAMSUNG REPORTS A 10-FOLD INCREASE IN PROFIT AS AI DRIVES REBOUND IN MEMORY CHIP MARKETS
Samsung Electronics reported this week a 10fold increase in operating profit for the last quarter as the expansion of artificial intelligence technologies drives a rebound in the markets for computer memory chips.
ELIMINATION OF TESLA'S CHARGING DEPARTMENT RAISES WORRIES AS EVS FROM OTHER AUTOMAKERS JOIN NETWORK
Elon Musk’s move to lay off the department responsible for Tesla’s electric vehicle chargers has touched off worries in the auto industry that EVs from other automakers will have trouble joining Tesla’s network.
AMAZON REPORTS STRONG 1Q RESULTS DRIVEN BY ITS CLOUD-COMPUTING UNIT AND PRIME VIDEO AD DOLLARS
Amazon reported this week strong results for the first quarter, driven by growth in its cloud computing unit and new advertising dollars from its Prime Video streaming service.
FCC FINES WIRELESS CARRIERS FOR SHARING USER LOCATIONS WITHOUT CONSENT
The Federal Communications Commission has leveraged nearly $200 million in fines against wireless carriers AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon for illegally sharing customers' location data without their consent.
JOURNALISTS CRITICAL OF THEIR OWN COMPANIES CAUSE HEADACHES FOR NEWS ORGANIZATIONS
This spring, NBC News, The New York Times and National Public Radio have each dealt with turmoil for essentially the same reason: journalists taking the critical gaze they deploy to cover the world and turning it inward at their own employers.
TESLA'S STOCK LEAPS ON REPORTS OF CHINESE APPROVAL FOR THE COMPANY'S DRIVING SOFTWARE
Shares of Tesla stock rallied this week after the electric vehicle maker’s CEO, Elon Musk, paid a surprise visit to Beijing over the weekend and reportedly won tentative approval for its driving software.