Who Is Caroline Calloway? An Explainer

How did this woman rate a profile in the NYT? I know nothing more about her and her so-called problems than before reading it. And if I never hear the word "influencer" again it will be too soon.

Went through this article waiting for it to coalesce into something definite. Instead found much verbiage strung out over an obfuscating narrative structure concerning a seemingly unrelated string of events said to be particular to the profoundly dreary sounding life of an "influencer" Perhaps this article is proposed as a new form of journalistic mirror in which we might learn of ourselves More work is needed.

Is this just a story about two girls playing pretend? Remember when you were a kid and you could pretend to be someone or something - anything? I think that’s what this article was about. I don’t even believe the book advance. A notarized copy from the publisher would help. So would more pictures. So if that’s not forthcoming then I’ll just know it was pretend.

I read that narcissism is on the rise. I wonder if this means we are better able to recognize it, but it was there all along. Maybe this rising malcontent egotism is a straight-up First World problem. Either way, she has my pity, but not my scorn. The former because I do not see a lot of self-actualization beyond the performative. Narcissism is hideously difficult to treat. I am at least grateful she does not feel the need to MAGA herself for attention clicks, which is sadly all too common, and truly worthy of scorn.

Caroline Gotshall comes from money, which largely explains why she's been allowed to grift and live in a fantasy of her own (and her parents') making for her whole life. What happens when she turns 40 and can no longer pull off the baby-doll dress or a head full of orchids? And the sad thing is, there's an entire generation of these self-important nobodies.

This article appears to be a dig on this young woman who’s just doing what a lot of young people are doing: trying to be influential on social media and hoping it turns into something better in the future. Why the snide talk of certain projects of hers not working out? So she got in over her head...so what. It seems like the writer has a personal peeve with the subject Instagram model - stolen romance perhaps - or maybe they’re friends and this article is a boost? It’s not news but it is interesting enough that we all read it. Plus the fact that so many humans enjoy taking photos and viewing images and other interesting things on their handheld devices is a global trend that should be tracked in papers, even if the content is shallow and boring at times.

What happened to times when people aspired to be rocket scientists, health gurus, police officers, and firemen -amongst other ways to be of service. Apparently they died with the baby boomers. These are the influencers, not millennial crybabies seeking attention for themselves to make a living being irrelevant and dysfunctional. No wonder the world is such a narcissistic mess. And in the NYT no less. Subscription at risk of cancellation if it can’t come up with better than this.

Was this trip really necessary?

This piece fails miserably in its effort to explain why this Instagram obscurity should matter to anyone. She got paid to paid a lot of money (Why?) to write a book that she hasn't written. Her posts are pure high school in content and form. She has a following, but it's not big enough to make any kind of dent in the internet. The authors themselves admit she's not famous. She had a ghost writer. Still waiting to hear why this should intrigue me. And if this isn't already much ado about nothing, there's a separate interview with the ghost writer. And the capper is that it took two people to write this article. I'll give Choire and Jonah some credit, though. They must be masters of the elevator pitch to cause an editor to buy into this big bowl of cold mashed potatoes.

As puzzling as this article is, many responses are more puzzling. Especially the nobody versus somebody comments, which indicate how mired is the US in a morass of pop culture. If either of these women become celebrities on the web, they will I assume become somebodies. The world of somebodies seems to be at best shallow to me. For example, name one pop musician somebody who will have the influence or longevity of say Mozart or Stravinsky or Bach. But there is a better game. Did Isaac Newton or William Shakespeare have more influence on your world? Have you read either? There is a high probability that you have heard of Albert Einstein but not James Clerk Maxwell, Steven Hawking but not John Bell, Alan Turing but not Steven Cole Kleene, Richard Feynman but not John von Neumann, Kurt Gödel but not Paul Cohen. This is a result of pop culture, especially since you likely haven't a foggy idea regarding the work of the ones whose names you know. Names and buzz words without a semblance of understanding. Are or were any of these people somebodies? Kiyoshi Ito, Alexander Grothendieck, Freeman Dyson, Paul Malliavin, Simon Donaldson, S S Chern, James Simons, Bernhard Riemann? These are people whose names and work will mostly likely outlive any current pop heroes. I could do the same with names from literature or music or economics, part of my interests. Pop culture is fake reality based in ignorance and it is eating the US. That is what the article and the responses show.

I did not understand a word of this article, if you can call it that. The writer asks questions, as subject headings, that are non-sequitors, then fails to answer them. I didn't understand a single one of the example instagram posts (or I guess I should say that I don't understand their appeal or why anyone would be interested in this). I didn't understand that last section on "How do you know if a friend needs help?" each paragraph seemed to come out of nowhere. I'm a young person with excellent reading comprehension. But this very, very strange article made me feel like a brain-damaged dinosaur. I didn't understand any of it. Much less why I should care!

Sigh. Bless her and the millions of impressionable young women who most likely will never be famous for their wealth, business contributions or their talent. Instead, the draw & mental manipulation of Instagram has made it easy to become a self-described Influencer in a world where no one questions you because they’re just looking for a “follow-back. It’s time to log off and be happy, being yourself.

On the other hand she wore a glove.

Authors dissect key points in their view - about how the subject is not famous, nor truly Instagram famous (based on number of likes or followers etc) ,on a commissioned book that didn’t manifest and how both parties involved in article are non scammers albeit with some ghost writing involved. In short this is a non event orchestrated by two with a story that first appeared in “The Cut” and subsequently perpetuated to readers of the Times with the sole outcome of bringing more attention to 2 ‘wannabe’ Instagram influencers. Yet in the same breath, the relevance of it was justified thus by the authors: “All of it has taken place in the digital media ecosystem, making the saga an exciting piece of the new variety of infotainment that isn’t broadcast on television.” Digital media sphere is not new nor does it mean anything happening (or not happening in this case) is exciting or new infotainment. In that regard, this article seems a waste of readers’ time and a poor subject matter and exposition. For the authors to call this a capstone of the said saga knowing the weight of the Times and fawning over how “Ms. Calloway is the spiritual granddaughter of reality television, at times playing the contestant, at others, the producer, depending on who is writing her story in the moment” makes one doubt the professional spirit and journalistic quality one would assume is needed in every section of the paper including Living and Style.

I didn’t realize I had subscribed to People magazine

I hate you’ve given that young woman this ink. I have a small blog (which I won’t name here as MY writing isn’t about self-promotion). I started it to help others learn from my mistakes, and see the stunning beauty and great experiences I have traveling. If 10 people read it and 8 get information they can use, I succeeded. If 10,000 read it and shrug their shoulders & say “nothing here for me” I’ve failed. I’m not doing this to get famous. I’m doing it to be of service. That’s what these “wanna be famous” bloggers are missing out on. Giving us, the readers, INFORMATION. :-/ Susan Expat in Ireland

This person deserved a NY Times article. What nonsense. Social media seems to boil down to an endless cry for attention and approval. Over doing nothing meaningful. People have always been vain, but it seems to be attaining new heights with many of the millennials.

I seriously can't fathom the point of this article or why this person is worth the ink.

I don’t get it.

I am thrilled that y'all are translating this for me. I am one of the olds. I am confused. And I miss the Awl. (not to mention the 'how to help your friends' conclusion which might be the point of this whole story)

I happened to read The Cut article yesterday. Started it and was unable to stop because I wanted to see if there was any *there* there. Couldn't find it. Read this article thinking it might clarify things for me, and realized once again that there is nothing of interest or value in any of this for me. For others who've had the same reaction: I have lived outside of the US 3 different times in my life, and one of the best parts of the experience is the weird way you feel at first when you don't get the local celebrities. Fun to not care at all -- or be even slightly aware of -- people that the local culture obsesses over. It's fun to see celebrities when their celebrity doesn't exist in your own mind. It's a phenomenon that fades, because soon you become familiar with the celebrities you were oblivious too on the day you arrived in the foreign country. This "story" gave me that same feeling: interesting to read all this *nothingness* about an "influencer" when "influencers" isn't a concept I know or care about. Interesting to feel like a foreigner in my own culture.

Exploit your fans for money. That's the name of the game. All these people care about is themselves.

Do we cast blame on the shallow influencers or the "sheep" or should I say "Lemmings" who follow them (off the cliff into the abyss of stupidity, shallowness and ignorance)

What was the point of this? People like this who profit off of their own narcissism are an insult to people all over America are struggling by busting their assess in real jobs that create things. Unfollow Influencers.

It's seriously weird what people get up to these days. I get why this article was written but not the sheer emptiness of Calloway's life: didn't she pick up anything remotely valuable from her Cambridge education? It's a shame she went; another student in her place might have done something useful afterwards.

I read this thinking it might be some interesting cultural thing I didn't know about, but no, it's shallow and unimportant (although very self-important), and not just the person, but sadly the article too.

Used to be one could count on newspapers to actually print news. What's the point NYT? Does the Bobble Head in the white house have you so confused you've forgotten what you are?

Huh??

This is what Dan Boorstin would have called a pseudo-event. Not a single piece of this story matters—not Calloway, not Beach, not the Cut, not this article, and certainly not any of the social media tools associated with it all. I feel quite badly for Beach and Calloway, they're both unsuspecting nobodies sucked into a vortex of cultural narcissism. I hope one day they can stop worrying about gaining entrance to the "edgy literary set"—what a laugh—and experience some kind of moral awakening that drives them in a new direction. Like toward something that matters.

That anyone is writing about this is shameful. The premise: A wanna be, who isn’t necessarily someone by today’s standards, and getting paid for producing nothing of real value. Do we really need an article and discussion about someone that should just go away into the shadows? Nope!

I will be the first to admit that, I am a little...no very confused by this article and the point. "Her currency is attention" How? Is it just me?

You know the meme of the woman doing a cartwheel on a beach with "look at me", right? Well this Ms "Shalloway" Calloway is just such a person. I know the type as I have a family member that spawned one. She lives on the west coast, where vanity is in competition with ego and notoriety of stardom. This family member's spawn also thinks she is an aspiring singer and you-tube sensation (she buys viewers with her father's money). I think that once an individual loses their identity and recreates one based on the mass-appeal of narcissism, that person no longer exists. Pay no attention to this Ms Calloway/Beach. And it will go away.

I find it curious that in a piece that makes two references to Calloway's parents, there is not even a hint that the reporters attempted to get a comment from them. If the purpose of this piece is to better to understand the curious psychological case that is Caroline Calloway (or even to delve into the "influencer" phenomenon, it seems shallow and lazy to talk to no one on the record besides a single disgruntled ex-employee.

This article feels like some sort of experiment - e.g. how did it possibly end up at the top of the 'Most popular' list, unless one of its clever, new media-savvy authors somehow worked a deal with whoever runs the gears and levers of the ranking systems at the Times. Or are they testing some insidious new algorithm that went wrong? Regardless of how it got on the list, some editor ought to overrule the mighty, popularity-conferring computers and pull it - just to confirm there's a live journalist back there somewhere.

No wonder scoundrels in positions of power like trump have an easy time persuading people not to believe anything they read. The trite rubbish from "explainers" and "influencers" like Calloway paves their way. 14:10 EDT, 9/12

William Shakespeare, who I’m reasonably sure was a much better writer and thinker than anyone involved in or with this story, From laid out the futility of human existence in Macbeth: “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”.

To add to my earlier comment: Influencers are the new social parasites.

My two millenial sons mostly shun social media except to stay in touch with friends as they get older and move around having their lives. My older son told me once "Every time I go on social media I feel depressed afterwards. So I stopped." Not doing things that make you feel bad about yourself seems sensible to me.

sad to report that in the few minutes it took me to read this article, I reduced my usual banana-coconut oats to just banana. an unworthy sacrifice.

Hey Caroline, here's some excellent advice from George Thorogood: Get haircut and get a real job.

Mssrs Sicha & Bromwich-- Thank you for the effort here, which I see has drawn the predictable middlebrow faux-yawns/sputters of outrage among NYT commenters. I'm 53 and I live in the flyover zone and only sub to Sunday paper for work access & xword & the far superior brains who write comments in health & science articles. I see one of my fellow olds, just 12 comments in here, has managed to make DJT analogy. I'm sorry for all of the above and below but really just wanted to write in to say thanks for Jake L reference, (RIP) Gawker.

Am I expected to give a toss about this narcissist? Why? Has she cured a disease, helped the less fortunate, raised funds for the poor? Oh right; she got attention for getting attention! Wow! OK thanks. Moving on ...

In a world without context, the blind squirrel is king. Or something like that.

On the other hand, I read yesterday that death rates are spiking for millennials, that mortality rates increased more than 28% from 2008 to 2016, mostly due to suicide and drug overdose. Aren't we all being seduced by monetized distraction, each generation with their own brands? Why pick on the millennials? Unfortunately, this article failed in that it reports on a cultural phenomenon but does not expand our understanding of its significance. And it is significant.

Are the authors friends of Caroline Calloway? They certainly are helping this lucky Instagrammer's cause - I might call her to star in a movie right now!

Ugh! "Influencers." I'm just done. Who cares?

Can anything be more irrritatingly pointless than this? The world descends into ecological catastrophe and you offer us this drivel about a self-aborbed, talentless navel-gazer.

Reading this made my feel very old.

I kept wondering what was the point of this article because it just seemed so pointless that it was annoying. Then I realized its purpose is to congeal the prototypical millennial type into a singular character, embodied in Caroline Calloway. She represents a generation. So anyone in the future can look back and say "oh, right, ok, that's what the millennial generation was about." It does succeed in that mission.

2 Dimensional people. They live in a 2 dimensional world. Should it bump into the 3 dimensional world, the center can’t hold. Watch out.

I couldn’t follow why this is in the paper of record.

I am raised in the school of writing focused on issues and systems in the larger world. It's revolutionary in a way only the young can accomplish to throw that out the window and write about themselves. Even if the pics and settings are staged, it's still high resolution. Doesn't imply any judgement about their experience at all. It could be a sign of loneliness or some other social unraveling that Instagram writers have thousands of followers they don't know and that those followers will never meet the writers. Perhaps this all just means it's easy to take pics and somewhat natural to then explain and comment on the pic. This all reflects how we have technology in search of a problem to solve. Why not leave it to young women to do whatever? The world of commerce wants to know what they buy and then sell them more stuff. The world of young women want to know what other young women think. Whatever. This spew of female selfie expose is revenge by monetization by those with erotic capital and potential power against those who lost it long ago.

OK, yes, I "clicked". Read this piece. If these people are able to generate a following, be recipients of this publicity, then Trump, Putin, and Boris The Terrible are what we deserve.