Deez Interviews: Checking in with internet culture reporter Taylor Lorenz on personal vs. professional Instagram time, and how to build rapport w/teen sources

Happy Friday, Deezers! Today’s interview is with Taylor Lorenz, the internet culture reporter whose recent pieces like The Instagram Aesthetic Is Over and The Hottest Chat App for Teens Is … Google Docs keep redefining the way we think about digital platforms and, increasingly, how its smartest and savviest users are adopting them for their own purposes. We chatted with Taylor about how she finessed her way into this beat, how the story is so much more than “teens doing things,” and how she builds rapport with young sources. Enjoy!

//

The interviewee: Taylor Lorenz (follow her @TaylorLorenz!)

The gig: Staff writer at The Atlantic

What drew you to making "internet culture" your specific area of expertise?

My area of coverage is so broad and essentially boils down to whatever I'm interested in at the time (shout out to my AMAZING editors for letting me write about the things I care about!). But my stories are all generally focused on how people are using technology or the internet to communicate and connect. That can be how a 12-year-old found her best friend through an Instagram meme community, or how an influencer with 5M subscribers is using Discord to chat with fans.

There was a talk at XOXO a couple years ago by Dan Harmon (I know he's cancelled, but I do just want to reference that talk for a sec), where he spoke about the internet being the best "people connector" we've ever had. I really agree with that and my stories all generally roll up into that theory. I think recently with the Facebook backlash, the rise of extremism etc, we're also seeing the consequences of connection for connection sake. So people's changing notions around how technology mediates these connections has also been really interesting to cover and explore.

A common theme in your work for The Atlantic involves the ways teens/kids use (and often subvert) digital platforms like Instagram or even Pocket. What do you say to people who dismiss these kinds of stories, or don't think they're important because it's like "oh the teens are doing WHAT now?"

People who think my beat is just about "teens doing stuff " don't get it are VASTLY underestimating me as a reporter!!! I almost never start with wHaT tEeNs ArE dOiNg OnLiNe. If I see interesting emergent behavior on a platform, I dig into who and why it's happening, and usually (like 90% of the time) it's teens who are exhibiting the behavior.

But what's interesting is why they're bending the platform in some new and unique way and what unmet needs they have as users. Not that fact that they're teens!!!

Where do you find these stories? Like, how does one become so plugged into the somewhat secret lives of online teens the way you clearly are?

I mostly just spend a lot of time in different communities and talking to people. When I notice something I usually try to follow and talk to a lot of accounts in that area.

Also, a good editor helps. I've missed out on several scoops because I sort of thought everyone knew about something or I just didn't recognize the right angle. So having the right editor to talk things over and help refine ideas is key. But long story short, I think it just comes down to talking to people. I keep my DMs open and try to respond to everyone that's not harassing me or messaging me dick pics.

What are the challenges of reporting on the same social media platforms you use personally? Is it hard to separate "work Instagram time" from "personal Insta time"?

I have zero boundary between my work and personal life, and I try to just not stress out about it?

I used to have jobs (in other industries) where things were more separate, but those jobs were miserable. Now, I get to explore the thing I'm most passionate about and learn new things every day, so the whole lack of work vs personal time is a compromise I'm willing to make at this point in my life. (I'm sure that will change maybe if I get married or have kids or more of a personal life!?)

Finally, there's that hilarious "how do you do fellow kids" meme that kind of perfectly encapsulates the way that ~adults~ so often either talk down / talk "teen" to anyone under 18. A lot of journalists are so terrible at it!

As someone who spends so much of their time interviewing teens and getting them to open up some of their most private habits to you, how do you build rapport with younger sources?

First of all, I have to shout out Kaitlyn Tiffany (who you should follow, she's amazing) because she once wrote about how "How do you do, fellow kids" has become the "how do you do, fellow kids’ of memes," and it's just so good and true, and I love and reference that post constantly.

Anyway! I just try to be non-judgemental? I write a lot about groups of people whom assholes on the internet don't take seriously. I would put influencers in this category too. So it's really important to build rapport. I ask every person I interview what they feel people don't understand about them. I would never look down or judge anyone for the weird shit they're are into. The most important thing is to have empathy.

Like, there are ways I could reframe my stories to play into people's stereotypes about teens or influencers or whoever that would get more clicks. Instead, I try hard to make people rethink their stereotypes or preconceived notions.

One other thing I'll say is that if you try to act like a teenager's peer (or anyone's peer when you're not), they won't respect you. Any kid I talk to understands that I'm an adult woman. So I always approach things like, "lol help me! I'm not 14 years old, I don't understand this stuff. Can you explain it to me?"

Katie Notopoulos at BuzzFeed is one of my work idols and she's very good at this. She clearly understands internet stuff better than most people, but she doesn't try to act like she's too cool or knows better than the people she's talking to. Nor does she try to like a teen herself. She's very authentic and open and I think that's what sources of any age respond to.

It really comes down to being a humble, self-aware, curious person. The many, many female reporters who I look up to are all like that.

//

Don’t forget to follow @TaylorLorenz on Twitter, and have a self-aware weekend!