I still haven’t managed to quit social media, no matter how hard I try, but I’ve gotten pretty good at recognizing the kind of Instagram content that makes me want to delete my account. Maybe I’m betraying my generation, but I can’t stand the overly polished yet fake-casual posts flooding my feed—those perfectly staged photos with self-deprecating captions like “recent dump” or “life’s ok.”
Am I a hater? Absolutely. But not everything on Instagram annoys me. Over the past few years, I’ve fallen in love with what I call “boomer Instagram,” where people over 60 use the platform in a way that feels refreshingly authentic—something we millennials can only aspire to.
The king of boomer Instagram is undoubtedly restaurateur Keith McNally. While I’m excited to read his new memoir, I’ve been catching up on his brilliantly unfiltered Instagram, where he calls out a recent Telegraph profile as “poorly written and woefully inaccurate” (go off, Keith!), shares wistful reflections on missed romantic opportunities, and weighs in on current events in his signature sharp style. I’ve never met McNally in person, but scrolling through his feed feels like sitting next to him at Balthazar while he leans over to drop a perfectly timed, biting remark. I’m obsessed.
McNally isn’t the only boomer Instagrammer winning me over. Even legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola is surprisingly active, describing himself in his bio as “Film Director, Writer, Producer, Great-Grandfather.” His posts are peak dad energy—photos of himself at waterfalls in loud shirts, spontaneous tributes to Noël Coward, and proud grandpa moments celebrating his granddaughter Gia Coppola’s film The Last Showgirl.
Then there’s Kyle MacLachlan, with his charmingly simple “hi! i’m kyle” bio, dancing to Haim songs and posting earnest love letters to Lactaid. (Honestly, so babygirl of him.)
But no discussion of boomer Instagram would be complete without Isabella Rossellini. If you only know her from films like Blue Velvet or Death Becomes Her, her Instagram will be a delightful surprise. She shares her passions—from the pigeons that inspired Darwin’s theory of natural selection to a Kenyan elephant named after her—and, of course, her beloved bees. There’s no better escape from life’s stresses than watching Isabella Rossellini tend to her hives.
I never thought I’d say this, but from one whiny millennial to the boomers: thank you. Sure, you might have wrecked the economy and the planet, and yes, you still side-eye my tattoos at the pool, but you absolutely crush the art of the Instagram caption. Maybe I’ll even swallow my pride and teach my 70-year-old mom how to post. (Or… maybe not.)