is LA replacing NYC as the US influencer capital again?
an analysis of the Coachella car-camping virality effect
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I have a prediction that I can’t 100% prove yet… but I’m pretty sure I’m right: I think LA is about to once again overtake NYC as the influencer capitol of America. If that feels like a lukewarm take, that’s maybe fair. But since 2020, when the isolation of COVID seems to have made everyone then stampede to America’s biggest city, it is undisputed that NYC is where the internet it-people – or people who want to be them – flock to. This was a major shift from the 2010s, especially the early 2010s, where (as I’m sure my fellow Zillennials remember) everyone cool wanted to be in LA. This photo should hopefully make clear exactly what era I’m talking about:
And, after many long years of postgrads making it impossible to move in SoHo and Nolita, I believe that the West Coast is once again reclaiming that crowd. (That is the last passive-aggressive comment I will make as a native New Yorker, I promise – transplants, read on without fear lol).
Now, for important context, this is happening at a time when LA County is actually seeing the largest decline in population of any county in the US. This, however, seems like it further evidences my point: people are getting priced out (which is a widespread problem in California). And if tons of expensive developments with apartments, retail, etc. are going in… that is (unfortunately) a siren call to the influencer class.
The reason that I’m sharing this prediction now is probably obvious to any fellow serial scroller. That is, Coachella content, which epitomizes the LA influencer scene to me, is raking in engagement this year in ways that I haven’t seen since that 2010s, Valencia-filtered era. Let’s take a closer look at TikTok, where I (and most people) seem to be getting the bulk of it👇
First, you know it’s deep because TikTok built Coachella a custom landing page. And dare I say, it’s one of the best I’ve seen from them yet.
Second, an interesting trend I’ve noticed is that it isn’t just pre-existing famous people whose Coachella content is going super viral – it’s a ton of the more normal attendees. In a very meta turn of events, Coachella is actually spawning more influencers in real time.
To be fair, I think people have always been pretty fascinated with the car campers – that is, the normal people not being put up in AirBnBs by brands, who build cool set-ups on the festival grounds. But it seems like that interest is at an all-time high.
I personally have watched every Coachella video from Davanity, a longtime Weekend 1 Coachella attendee, who I believe is now invited to Weekend 2 because her videos from last weekend went so viral. And, perhaps ironically, I was told to watch her videos by an NYC influencer, who praised her for showing the “real” side of Coachella, like getting food poisoning and long lines for the showers.
And looking at the top #Coachella videos that TikTok is serving/recommending me (this is not just pure top-performing videos, it’s what they’re actively pushing at me) … I’m seeing a lot of car camping energy. And I wonder if some of the major influencers (a couple of whom are present here) will lean away from tours of their curated Palm Springs vacation mansions during Weekend 2 and lean into the “realness” of the festival, given how that type of content seems to be performing (and, you know, the bad economy, anti-influencer sentiment that’s been upon us since last January).
And FWIW, another prediction: I think this girl – who is also showing the “real” side of Coachella – might be on the up and up this upcoming weekend.
If you’re consuming Coachella Weekend 2 content, and/or have been clocked in, I’m curious to know what you think about all of this! You know where to find me 👇