November 12, 2024

toys: Tally of the Dolls

As social media users have become steadily invested in nonhuman influencers like the C.G.I. model-activist @lilmiquela, Dollstagram is expanding rapidly. Socality Barbie, the beanie-wearing, coffee-drinking hipster sensation who made headlines in 2015, has led to pregnant, chain-smoking singer Turleen Trailer Park Queen and Gamer Barbie, run by Maddie Maree, an Australian Twitch streamer and marketer.

Ms. Maree was determined to create her Barbie mini me: a “curvy gamer nerd,” she said, although, like many influencers, she eventually tired of the pressure to continually update her wardrobe and create increasingly original scenarios.

“I still get messages and comments asking when new content is coming out, or if our dolls ‘want to be friends,’” Ms. Maree said. “She is definitely due for a comeback.”

Ms. LaFond, the stylist, said that when a doll stops posting, others will notice and reach out. “A lot of people in the community deal with mental health issues, but having a strong support system that shares a common interest helps a lot of us get through it,” she said. “It’s a togetherness that spans across the world.”

As an outsider, it’s easy to make fun of Dollstagrammers. Surely these people have a creepy, perhaps even unhealthy obsession with dolls? They’re seeking Instagram fame, but incapable of achieving it in their own right. These are women without children or romantic love, channeling their maternal instincts into plastic figurines.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/30/style/instagram-dolls.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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